Elysium and Tartarus
by AdrianBastion
Summary: While Japan faces off against threats such as the League of Villains and the Shie Hassaikai, the rest of the world has their own problems, their own villains to wreck havoc and their own heroes to stop them and save the day. However, the world isn't simple. The heroes can't save everyone, and the villains aren't without cause, nothing is so black and white. Sometimes the lines blur
1. 1st Life What you Find in the Dark

It wouldn't be wrong for Thomas to say he was a rather busy man. He had groceries to buy, a home to maintain, and a city to save on a regular basis...

While the world may not necessarily know him as Thomas Hendrickson, a large and awkward man with more strength than he knew what to do with and a tendency to accidentally break everything, they knew him better as one of the world's greatest heroes, the Strongest Human; Hercules (Though he never had a chance to duke it out with All Might in a friendly brawl just to see if that title was true before the Symbol of Peace lost his quirk for good). A licensed hero with a quirk by the name of Herculean Strength.

While strength-based powers were hardly anything new, he'd even dare to say that variations of 'super strength' were perhaps among the more common quirk types, his was unprecedented in terms of just how much stronger he became because of it, a strength that theoretically had no cap, no limit, if he kept training hard enough. And it wasn't just physical strength; his reflexes were astounding, his durability marvelous and his speed was so great he may as well have a speed-power. It's important not to skip leg day, after all.

He recalled some kids at an autograph session likening him to a video game character who had maxed out all his physical stats and reached the highest level a player could get.

But it kind of left room for a lot of accidents. Like when he squeezed his toothpaste too hard and the entire thing exploded between his fingers, or when he accidentally shattered his dishes by applying just a little too much pressure when trying to scrub out some sauce that was stuck on tight to it. Thomas had to always be careful, always aware of how much force he applied in everything he did. One handshake mistake and he could completely destroy the other persons hand, pat someone on the back too hard and their spine could be shattered, close the door too hard and he'd need a new door and probably repairs to the wall itself, punch a villain too hard and he may as well turn himself in for murder.

It was impossible to stress how important control was for him. His quirk didn't have an 'on/off' switch, he didn't have the luxury of just deactivating his quirk and not having to worry about his strength. It was because of how much focus he put on control that he had even, unintentional as it had been, climbed to the top rankings.

For the past twelve years, Thomas has held the title of the Number One hero in America. As of seven years or so ago, he had entered into the ranks of the Top Ten heroes world-wide, and had even gotten to meet All Might on multiple occasions, his own hero and the kind of person Thomas had always striven to be like, he'd always liked the worlds greatest hero, their powers were similar in regard to strength, and he wanted to be the kind of person the world could love and respect like they did for All Might. Even with the blonde now quirkless, he was still Thomas' hero.

But for America, Thomas was their symbol of justice and freedom, there to protect the people. An unbeatable hero who brought down every foe he faced, he had charm, humor, a heart of goal and the media just loved him. Though Thomas couldn't say he felt the same towards the media. Too many exhausting interviews and people trying to dig into his private life, not to mention how skewered certain networks liked to tell the story, ah yes, he had a personal disdain for Rox News. Especially after they tried to tell some scandalous story of him having an affair, when all he had been doing was taking his very nice and polite costume designer out to lunch as thanks. She was married and he was sure her wife would have flayed him alive had that story been real.

Honestly, being a big name hero only made for some hectic days.

That day alone, he had been juggling a morning interview with a station reporter for kids on the importance of treating each other fairly and to not bully those around you just because they were different, then a villain with the power to turn into some massive lizard monster began terrorizing a construction site which forced him to cut the interview short to deal with it. And when he was out to pick up some new socks, there had been no less than three robberies. Sometimes it was just boggling how criminals would seemingly choose one day for everyone to go and do some crime, if he didn't know better, he'd say they were planning it, orchestrating it, but he knew well enough that most villains wouldn't work together, and especially not so seamlessly.

And that's not even mentioning the paparazzi that would swarm on him when they had the chance.

The lack of time just for him made Thomas sometimes wish he could have been lower in the rankings. His friend Lee, a fellow licensed hero under the name of Wukong, rarely dealt with this kind of workload and expectations, and he was only ranked 67 in America and even lower world-wide.

But, Thomas had a strong sense of justice and responsibility. If he saw a problem or heard of one, he, perhaps impulsively, needed to help. He didn't regret doing what he could to help others, giving up his personal time to be of use to the world and to help others stay safe, even if it forced him to get most of his private-life things done in the middle of the night. Like right now, for example.

It was currently late at night and he had already hung up his hero costume for the day. Not that it made much of a difference, Thomas was still pretty easy to recognize even without the spandex, the gold braces over his wrists and calves or the lion cowl covering his upper face. It was hard not to recognize a seven-foot mountain of muscle with wild brown hair and bronze skin.

But, he had gone through some effort to look as inconspicuous as he could as he did some late night grocery shopping. He'd hid his hair under a hat and eyes behind some sunglasses and he thought his disguise was pretty clever, until it became obvious that the few people out and about in the area that late at night could recognize him. Thomas had to be quick to hush people before the ones who were too excited could shout out 'HERCULES!' and blow his cover in the middle of the store. Right now he wasn't a hero, right now he was just Thomas, and his priority wasn't saving people it was making sure he had enough food in his fridge to eat something decent and healthy.

His shopping had gone without too much of a problem and the night had been pretty quiet. Save for the cashier nearly fainting from shock at seeing the pro hero face to face, he was pretty content with how _normal_ the shopping trip had felt.

And as Thomas walked home, carrying the few grocery bags in one large hand, he had stopped to pick up some trash off the sidewalk on his way home. Really, why did people have to throw their garbage onto the ground and not into a trashcan? Was not littering so hard? While passing an alley, he tossed the ratty newspaper and empty soda bottles into the grimy dumpster that leaned against the building.

He would have kept on walking had he not caught the sound of whimpers and choked back sobs from within the alley. Thomas turned and stood there, staring into the dark alleyway, waiting in silence to make sure he hadn't just imagined it. He hadn't. The sound grew fainter, as though whoever was emitting them was trying to hold them back, but it was there. Someone was in there. Someone who was trying not to cry, possibly in pain.

Even though he may not have been on patrol as Hercules, it didn't mean that Thomas was going to ignore someone who may have been in trouble. Readying himself, he headed into the alley, keeping his steps slow and quiet so as to not scare whoever was within.

What he saw was not something he had been prepared for.

It was amazing that he didn't smell it first, the overpowering stench of rot, of raw meat and bile.

The first thing that Hercules saw when he entered the alley was the body that was splayed across the pavement. Dyed red hair that was turned darker by the blood soaked into the strands, a gaping hole in his neck. as though someone attempted to behead him but stopped part way. From what Thomas could see, it was a young man, too. Maybe mid or late twenties. But that wasn't everything.

That wasn't the source of the stench of death.

A little ways away from the first body, just a couple of feet was... Thomas wasn't even sure how to describe what he saw, only that he was sure that it had once been a human. But what it was now was a pile of blood, of fleshy, pulpy meat soaked in it's own body fluids, bones broken and torn apart, limbs strewn about the alley, there was even flesh sticking to the wall. It didn't even resemble a person anymore, far beyond recognition.

The mere sight had Thomas fighting back the urge to throw up.

It was as though something had blown up inside of the person... no, not that. Like something had torn it apart piece by piece and continued to do so over and over again, like when a person keeps tearing apart a piece of paper until all that's left was tiny little flakes. But instead of little shreds of paper was a corpse mutilated to grotesque extremes.

He had to take a breath to steady himself, to get a hold of himself. He couldn't go weak in the knees, not here, not right now. This was a murder scene, he needed to call the police, figure out what happened and find the one who did this and put them behind bars. Hope and pray that these were the only victims and there wasn't going to be some horrifying serial killings.

But, no, there wasn't just that, not just the corpses. The horrendous sight had almost made him forget what had drawn him into the alley in the first place, and as Thomas turned his head to look around, he saw the source of the noise he had heard.

It was a little girl.

She was curled up in a corner between the wall and the grimy dumpster, sobbing softly, weakly, her tiny body trembling, blood soaking her clothes. The girl couldn't have been older than seven, a pale face and short black hair tied up. She was missing her right arm, but her left arm clung to herself tightly, short nails digging into her shirt as though she was afraid to let go.

He needed to get her out of here, get her somewhere safe.

Walking past the bodies, Thomas crouched in front of the girl, letting his groceries drop to the ground. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked in his gentlest voice, reaching a hand out to her.

The girl cracked an eye open and gave such a violent jerk away from him that her body hitting the brick wall made such a loud noise that it had him wince, "G-Get back!" she shrieked, panic in her voice, "don't touch me!"

What happened next went too fast for Thomas to notice until it had happened. One moment he had been reaching out to the girl, to try and calm her, the next there was blood running down his arm, his skin badly sliced and cut all over like he'd stuck it into some kind of shredder, and a powerful ache ran up the limb.

Behind the girl, emerging from her shadow on the wall were long black tentacle like appendages with razor sharp edges, a few arms came out and clung to her as well, pulling her against the wall and against her own shadow. Their skin seemed to flow, pure darkness taken solid form, capable of shifting their form, capable of hurting to defend her.

A living shadow, he noted.

It really shouldn't have come as any surprise that she had a power of her own when the majority of the worlds population was born with a quirk, most showed their first signs when they were four or five.

Still, it was a bit surprising for her to use her power to attack him when he was here to help. Thomas drew his arm back to access the damage they had caused. He might need a few stitches, but the injuries weren't too bad, he supposed he was lucky they didn't slice any major veins or reach his bones. He looked back at the shadows, and he could feel the hostile aura they seemed to emit.

They were likely sentient and with their master in such a terrified state, they were attacking anyone they saw as a threat.

In the back of his mind, he had to consider the possibility that they might be the ones responsible for the two dead bodies. But, he didn't want to suspect the child of murder.

As he watched the shadows, he noted how they weren't reaching out to attack him. They only lunged when he got too close, and what they seemed now was a more defensive formation. So long as he didn't reach for her again, they weren't going to go at him again. Good to know.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Thomas said as he watched the girl and the shadows, but didn't dare reach his arm out again. "I'm here to help, I want to help you."

The girl looked up, her blue eyes were bloodshot and snot was dripping down her face, "Wh-who are you...?" she whispered, her voice was hoarse, probably from crying.

"Just someone who wants to get you somewhere safe," he noticed that the shadows had backed off just a little, the writhing limbs moving more slowly. He reached out again, slowly, trying to make it clear he wasn't a threat. "This alley is dirty and scary, do you want to go somewhere warm and safe?"

The child shivered and didn't say anything or even move. Her eyes fluttered shut and she fell limp, her body supported by the filthy dumpster. Seeing her look so small, so weak, he felt his heart reach out for her, the poor girl had to have gone through a lot. The shadows retracted back into the darkness when she lost consciousness, and so Thomas wasted no time bringing her into his arms, cradling her against him as gently as he could as to not hurt her.

Thomas couldn't tell if she was hurt, couldn't tell how much of this blood was from the corpses and if any was her own. He didn't bother picking back up his groceries as he hurried out of the alley, shifting her to rest in one arm as he used the other to find his phone in his pocket.

Thomas spared only enough time to look to make sure he had reception before he dialed for the police. A few rings and he heard the other end pick up.

"Hello? This is Hercules, I need a police dispatch on 15th street. There's been a double-homicide in the alley between Billings Bar and the sushi place that closed last spring," he said, speaking quickly and as calmly as he could given the situation. "There's a child as well who may have witnessed the entire thing, she's lost conscious and I'm taking her to Huerta Hospital," he looked at the girl in his arms as he said that. She was so pale and her skin felt uncomfortably hot.

On the other end, he listened to the officer speak in a frantic voice, answered some questions to clarify where he was at, and then hung up. Slipping the phone back into his pocket, he adjusted his grip on the girl and took a deep breath. He didn't have the time to wait for a taxi or the patience to answer any questions, and even if he got an ambulance to come his way it wouldn't come quick enough for his liking. So he'd have to get her to the hospital his own way.

Feeling his power coursing through his body, flowing through his legs, he took off in a magnificent leap. Jumping through the air, he was covering incredible amounts of distance as he hit rooftops and streets and jumped again.

Thomas reached Huerta General Hospital in a matter of minutes. A few people let out startled gasps or stared at him in awe, but he didn't have the time to answer questions or ease their concern. As soon as he hit the ground he was jogging towards the doors.

He burst through the ER Entrance only seconds after landing, "I need a Doctor, now!" Thomas shouted at the various employees and nurses.

A nurse gaped at him, taking in the sight of the child in his arms and his own bloodied limb, before rushing to his side, her hands were already glowing with her quirk, likely a kind of diagnostic type that were often found in hospitals for when damage was so severe they didn't have the time to ask questions if they wanted to save lives. After a few hasty seconds, she pressed a device on her badge and called out several instructions as she guided Thomas to a room to place the child on one of the prepped beds.

"What happened to her?" the nurse asked quickly as she started attaching monitors to the girl.

Thomas did his best to fit into an empty corner of the room so he wasn't in her way. "Found her at the scene of a murder, I don't know the details, but the girl needs medical attention."

"Obviously," the nurse snapped. "Do you know her name, her quirk or if she has one? I don't see anything obvious."

Thomas worried his lip between his teeth before answering. "I don't know her name, but her power appears to be a sort of sentient Shadow Manifestation, it acts on its own and may attack you if it sees you as a threat," he added the last bit as a warning, not wanting the nurse or rest of the staff to be taken by surprise if the shadows react aggressively, and he took a moment to look back to his own injured arm.

The nurse made a noise of acknowledgement but didn't seem too concerned, as though she'd dealt with patients with more dangerous quirks before. As she finished up prepping the room, a team of doctors hurried in, and Thomas found himself being ushered out by a nurse so that they could work on the girl and he could have his own arm looked at.

As Thomas was led to a room, only half listening as the nurse talked, something about only a few stitches, he found his mind worrying more over the child than himself. He hoped the police could find some information on who she was, could get a hold of her family.

Really, he felt his heart reach for the child, the poor girl.

* * *

A few hours later, Thomas was happy to hear that the child wasn't any worse for wear after he'd been given his stitches and the doctors had finished with her. The injuries that she had weren't severe, but there had certainly been a myriad of scrapes and bruises as well as several old and faded scars. The worse that she had been facing was a mild concussion, probably from hitting the brick wall, but that wasn't too hard to deal with.

The doctors were keeping her out with some medication while they ran some more tests on her just to make sure nothing was wrong, and Thomas was more than willing to cover her medical expenses.

While waiting in an empty room the hospital was loaning to him so that he wasn't disturbed by patients and fans, Hercules sat across from one of the detectives from the police department who was on the double-homicide case.

"Akira Kazama, power; Frost Breath," Officer Walt said as he handed Thomas, or rather Hercules as he was dressed at the moment, a photo of a rugged Japanese man as the two sat in the room. It was the red-haired man from the alley, the one with the knife wound in his neck. Walt then handed over a file on the man's criminal record next. "Part of the Yamazaki family."

Thomas took the photo and made an expression of confusion, "The Yamazaki family?" it didn't sound familiar.

His confusion must have been apparent, even with the lion cowl obscuring his face, and Walt gave a nod. "They're a Yakuza family, usually stays in the Kyōto prefecture, but their activities spread through a good bit of the Kansai region. I'm not quite sure what he's doing out here in America, maybe he decided to flee here, what with all the 'League of Villains' business, then again that's mostly over in the Kanto region if I understand the situation right." Walt sighed as he said that, more like he was rambling to himself than telling Thomas anything. "It's more likely than anything that he's here on family business, and if that's the case, we likely have more of those Yakuza types slinking about the city."

Thomas frowned. "Yakuza, huh..." wasn't that quirk-enhancing drug's main distributor a Yakuza group, as well? Same with those quirk-nullifying drugs being sold on the black market. Maybe there was a connection, but... no there were countless yakuza groups in Japan, it wasn't likely that this Yamazaki family was connected to either of those drugs. Shaking the thought out of his head, he looked back up at Walt. "Any reason why the girl might have been there?"

"None," Walt answered and tapped his fingers against his leg, "from what we have found so far, all I can see are three possibilities. She was with either of the two victims, such as an abduction that ended bloody, or she came upon the scene completely by chance," he was still tapping against his leg, but the pace grew quicker, "or, she's involved with the Yamazaki family in some way and was with Akira for that reason. I don't know how likely that is, though, from what we have on that Yakuza group, they focus on smuggling and drug deals, not human trafficking. But I can't say it's impossible."

No matter what, the possibilities weren't that great, they all lead to her being involved in a double murder and ending up in the hospital. He shook his head and looked at Walt again, "What about the other victim? Were you able to get an identity from the corpse?" he asked, blanching as the memory of the bloodied, meaty pulp came to mind.

Walt nodded and was handing out a second folder with a criminal record and photo. "Gregory Hamil, quirkless but has been on the run for a string of thefts and a few assaults. It's likely that he's the one who killed Akira; the knife that was used was covered in Gregory's fingerprints and was on the body."

"And if Gregory killed Akira, any leads on who killed Gregory?" Thomas already had an idea for who that might have been, but he didn't want to say it out loud.

Walt sighed and turned in his chair so he wasn't quite looking at Thomas anymore. "It's more than likely that the girl witnessed Gregory killing Akira, and feeling cornered, her shadows, which from what I understand from your testimony are sentient and more than a little hostile, saw this as a threat and attacked. And that corpse is the end result of their attempt at 'protecting' the girl."

He had a feeling that it might have been something like that, but it hurt to hear it out loud. That a girl so young would kill, whether intentional or not. The media was going to have a field day with this if they got a hold of any of the details, and it was a miracle they were able to keep all the reporters from catching wind of the girls involvement at all. She was involved in a murder, likely responsible for the brutal murder of Gregory Hamil. Even though this was a case of self-defense and it'd be unlikely she'd be given any sort of punishment, it was still murder. Still, blood on her hands.

That wasn't going to be easy to recover from.

"Were you find any information on who she is?" Thomas asked. "Any lead on who she is? A name? Who and where her family might be? We need to let them know where she is."

But Walt just sighed again, "Nothing. We ran her fingerprints, checked out the blood samples, but nothing came up. She's not registered anywhere, not even in any missing persons registry. It's like she doesn't even exist. That's usually a bad sign, most likely she doesn't have a family to return too, and if she does, it's unlikely they're in any position to be raising a kid," he scratched his scruffy beard. "It'll take a while to get her put in the system, and we'll need to find a children's home for her to stay at until everything gets sorted out, doubt she'd want to keep sleeping in the hospital. Though I'm not too sure about dropping her in a home with a bunch of other kids just yet, not when we can't guarantee the safety of those around her yet with that quirk of hers."

When he mentioned a children's home, memories of foster care flashed through his mind and Thomas felt his heart drop a little. He knew well how those kinds of places treated kids, the sort of power hierarchy the children formed. Constantly being moved from home to home because your quirk wasn't one that the adults wanted to deal with, constantly dealing with the cruelty of kids who didn't know any better.

Kids didn't get the proper counseling for their powers in foster care, and traumatized ones rarely got the needed therapy. With what she'd already been through... it was a guarantee that she'd suffer. Thomas didn't want that for her, no, he wanted her to have the room and care to recover from this, he wanted to help her.

The officer took one look at Thomas, "Oh, no, no, no, no. I know that face. Whatever you're thinking, just no."

"Walt, I know what it's like in the system, going from foster home to foster home," he's been in a situation like that, he wouldn't have wished it upon anyone, least of all this girl. "They're not going to want to keep her, they'll be scared and wary of her, the adults and kids alike. What she needs is a safe place, not some kind of juvenile system or family who are only doing it because they feel they have to. Those places, they'll eat her up and spit her out mangled and wrong."

The officer stood, staring up at the hulking behemoth of a man, "You can't be serious, Tom. You, taking care of a child? You barely have time to take care of yourself."

Thomas kept his gaze on Walt, determined and unwavering. "I'll make it work. There are lots of heroes in the city that there won't be too much problem if I cut back on hero work a bit. In a real emergency, I have contacts that could help. I have the resources to give this girl what she needs; a safe place with people she can trust, people who won't treat her like a villain just because of her power and history. How can I call myself a hero if I don't do everything I can to help her?"

Walt stared him down for a long moment before he let out a long breath that he had been holding. "Okay, if this is what you want, I won't stop you, God knows that it'd be impossible to if this is something you're truly set on." he closed his eyes and stood up, "I'll talk to some people, see if I can find the right ones you need to talk to about taking in this kid."

Relief blossomed in his chest, warmth flooding through him as though he was biting into ambrosia with the gods, "Thank you, Walt. Really, thank you."

He just waved him off as he headed to the door, "Don't thank me yet, this aint some guarantee that you're gonna get what you want," the officer grumbled, "If she has a family and we find them, and if they _are_ suitable to raise her, then I hope you don't get so attached you're not willing to let her to return home."

With that the door shut leaving Thomas alone in the empty hospital room. He ignored those words and found himself just smiling dumbly as he leaned against the wall.

So, this was a thing now.

He was going to adopt a child. Or at least try to.

Not what he thought he'd be doing at thirty-seven, when he was still single and everything, but, he could do this. He'd give this girl a happy life. It was the least he could do for her.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

So I've had the first few chapters posted on Ao3 for a while, just never got around to posting it here. As mentioned on Ao3, I have the first 8 or so chapters written, and a lot of this planned out already. You're gonna be seeing a whole lot of references to BNHA canon in this since all the UA and League of Villains drama is without a doubt going to be talked about overseas with how famous UA and some of Japans heroes are.

So this story is intended to be something that can be compliant with what goes on in canon, with lots of things from BNHA being brought up (Events, heroes, etc), without actually interfering with the canon story. Just think of it as 'While all this is going on over on this side of the world, this is what the other half of the world is going through' kind of thing.


	2. 2nd Life the Lion and the Rabbit

Thomas had learned rather quickly that the process of adoption was a lot more complicated and had a lot more steps to it than what television made it out to be.

Once the social worker arrived to meet him, she wasn't swayed in any way by Hercules' visage or by his many titles. When they met, she didn't see a crowd-favorite hero. No, she saw a middle-aged single man who wanted to take in a child, a traumatized one at that, and she wasn't going easy on him just because he was America's 'Number One'.

She laid out all the requirements for a prospective parent before him. Background checks, letters of recommendation from employers, applications, fees, orientations, training, home checks, and even then he would only at the 'foster' stage of the process.

According to the social worker, they weren't going to put the girl straight into adoption until they could find more about her family so that they could, if possible, reunite her with them. It would take a few months of investigation before they would consider him for adoption should no family show up.

Even with everything required, and the difficulty that would go into it, he was undeterred through the process. Thomas had faced down behemoth monsters and other villains and criminals every day, paperwork was hardly scary. He'd face down these piles of papers with the speed of Hermes and with the precision and thought of Athena, his ancestors in Greece would be proud of his effort if they could see.

His home was organized and clean, completely child-friendly, and his security was top of the market. His home was a cozy two-bedroom in a nondescript neighborhood, his neighbors were nice people who had agreed not to tell the media his address and so the potential feeding frenzy of reporters at his door was very low, for the sake of the entire neighborhood who want to keep the area calm and peaceful. The second bedroom had been used previously as a study, but was currently being remodeled into a bedroom befitting a child.

Income was plentiful, employer recommendations were sparkling. There wasn't a single blotch or stain on his perfect record, and Thomas made sure that everything was done in triplicate and gotten to the correct people as soon as he could. He attended all the orientations and trainings within days of submitting the papers—small perk of being a top-ranked hero, he'd saved enough people that he could get pushed to the top of the list.

The paperwork hadn't been much of a problem at all.

No, the hardest part, Thomas learned, was the girl herself.

She had remained in a medical coma for two days just so the doctors could make sure that her injuries were healing properly without risk of her shadow quirk interfering. She was scheduled for a few more scans and tests when she woke up, too, since there were some tests that would require her to be awake for.

The doctors had said she would be required a few more days, at minimum, in the hospital if all the results came back good. But Thomas would probably try and keep her in there a bit longer for her own safety.

She was still pretty weak looking, but some color had begun to return to her face during her time in the hospital. After the two days passed and she woke up to find the giant that was Hercules standing before her, well…

She screamed. Just a little.

Thomas, of course, panicked and had called all the doctors nearby in to have the girl checked over.

It was overwhelming for the seven-year-old to say the least. She kept her hand close to her chest and her shadow started to bubble, writhing arms lurching out and swatting away the doctors who got too close as they, the shadows, latched tightly onto the girl.

It was a miracle they didn't start cutting the doctors up like they had to Thomas the first night, but they seemed ready to do so with a few of the shadows sharpening to those deadly points that had done a number on his arm the other day, keeping the doctors and nurses at a distance.

It wasn't until the girl was close to a full-blown panic attack that Thomas caught onto the real distress of the situation.

In the end, it was just one female pediatrician checking over the girl while Thomas stood by the wall. The shadows had backed off, but there were two arms still out, hovering, ready to act if something happened and he could see her shadow on the wall rippling and bubbling, the rest of the shadows squirming about, ready to launch out and attack.

"Well, it looks like you're healing up nicely," the doctor noted as she deactivated her quirk, something that allowed her to see internal organs or something, Thomas wasn't sure on the details. "Now, I have to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind. Do you remember your name?"

The girl looked at the woman as she picked at the bandages on her neck, there had been some bad scratches and fresh wounds on them when Thomas had brought her here, and he wondered if they were self-inflicted from some kind of nervous tic. The girl swallowed after a few moments had passed "Alice," she answered in a soft mumble.

The woman nodded and gave her a soft smile, "Alice? That's a lovely name. Alright, sweetie, can you tell us what you remember before coming here? Do you by chance know of anyone by the name of Akira Kazama or Gregory Hamil?"

She didn't answer for a moment, instead Alice stared down at the bandages covering her fingers. "I dunno who Gregory is but… I'm, I'm not supposed to talk about Kazama to strangers," she mumbled as the shadows wrapped loosely around her to tug her closer to the wall, away from the adults. "It's one of the rules. Kazama and the others, I'm not supposed to talk about them."

He wasn't sure if she meant to or not, but she had essentially told them that she did know them. That confirmed his worry that she was affiliated in some way to the Yamazaki family, Thomas just needed to know what that connection was.

"It's okay, you can tell us whatever you can," the pediatrician tried, reaching out gently with one hand and the other gestured to Thomas. "You can trust us. After all, would a hero be here if this wasn't a place you would be safe in?

Alice stared at him, but her expression wasn't recognition, it was confusion. "Hero…?" she asked and instead of something like excitement or relief, it was worry, discomfort. Like his mere presence was a bad sign. "You're… you're the g-guy, from the alley."

"Yes, I am. I'm Hercules," Thomas said approaching her with a smile, "I'll make sure you're safe, so you don't have to worry about anything now, okay? You're safe here."

Alice stared at him for a little longer then ducked her head down to look away. "Mr. Crow doesn't like heroes," she confessed and wrapped her arm around herself in a weak hug, "he's… he's going to be mad if I talk to you, and, and I don't want him to be mad."

"Well, then this 'Mr. Crow' doesn't have to know," Hercules added with a hushed voice of his own, looking around the hospital room as though keeping an eye out for this man. "This will just be between the three of us, okay? So, could you tell us what happened?"

Alice didn't look like she believed him entirely, but her expression softened and she gazed at the hospital sheet. The shadows trembled, coiling around her like snakes, she closed her eyes tight and took a shaky breath. When she opened them, she didn't look at the two, but she talked.

"Mr. Crow was supposed to meet with someone, so he had Kazama take me to one of the offices he and the others were using while we're here—I'm not supposed to go out on my own, cause the world's a… it's dark and scary and not safe for me to be alone in," she began digging her nails into her side as the shadows gripped her tighter, growing a bit frenzied in their motions.

"Someone approached us, I think it was Gregory? He blocked our way and started yelling at Kazama, the two started fighting and then Kazama was… there was so much red… and then the other guy was yelling and coming towards me and… and…"

Alice cut herself off with a violent jerk, closing her eyes tightly as she began rocking back and forth in the bed, trying to steady her ragged breathing. The pediatrician was at her side, but the shadows kept her from getting any closer and Thomas barely had time to pull the doctor out of the way before sharp blades came down.

Making sure the woman was a good distance away from the bed, he turned his attention back to Alice. "It's okay, you're safe," Hercules said, taking a careful step towards her, ignoring the way the shadows were lunging at him, as though to remind him of how easily they could cut through his flesh if they wanted. "No one's going to hurt you, I'll make sure of that."

He didn't dare touch her, but he hovered close, trying to help calm her down with soothing words and promises. It felt like an eternity before Alice seemed to calm down again, and the shadows backed off reluctantly.

They kept the rest of their questions brief, not wanting to drive her into another attack, and Hercules wasn't able to get anything else out of her after that. She didn't have any words on who her family might be, and anything pertaining to the Yamazaki family was outright refused, with her stating fiercely that she wasn't supposed to talk about that stuff. That this 'Mr. Crow' would be mad at her if she did.

That didn't sit well with Thomas. He'd have to ask Walt about any information he might have on who that could be.

It seemed more and more likely that she'd been a part of this yakuza for so long that she didn't even have memories of her family. Perhaps the crime group killed them, but that wouldn't explain why they'd take her in. It wasn't likely it was out of guilt. Maybe they saw a use in her for her quirk, or she could be the bastard child of one of the members.

There were too many possibilities, too many threads on who and where this girl came from and he had no idea which one was the real one.

Eventually, the pediatrician left to give them some space and Thomas smiled as he moved to stand beside the bed, finding this as good a time as any to let her know of his plan.

"Well, I think that I should properly introduce myself now that it's just you and me," he said as he used the bandaged hand to push the lion cowl off so the girl could see his face. "I'm Hercules, professional hero. But, just between you and me, you can call me Thomas Hendrickson. I'm going to be taking care of you once you're all healthy and able to leave the hospital, if that's okay with you."

Alice stared at him, dumbfounded. As though trying to wrap her young mind over the idea that a professional hero, one that's supposed to be the best of the best, was planning to take care of her. What would Mr. Crow think? She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Sensing her hesitation, Hercules smiled. "Oh my, oh my, I almost forgot. Wait here," with that, he zoomed out of the room, leaving a blast of air behind him. Alice's hair was swept back and people could be heard yelling about 'No speed quirks allowed!'.

Hardly a minute had passed before more screaming and some swearing was heard again as Hercules was back in the room, carrying a small box with him.

"I _may_ have taken some liberties to bring you some things to play with while you're here. I figured that the hospital would be pretty boring with nothing to do and thought you might enjoy these," he set the box down on an empty table. "Let's see, I've got some children's books, a set of clothes in case you get tired of the hospital gowns and, oh!"

Hercules pulled out a white teddy bear and Alice's eyes widened.

"That's for me?" she asked tentatively as he held the stuffed toy up. When Hercules smiled gently and handed it to her, she hugged it tight, as though she had never received something as simple as a teddy bear before in her life.

There was a quiet few moments before Alice looked up, shyly, but with a smile hidden by the fur of the bear. "Thank you, Mr. Thomas."

The hero laughed greatly, a sound that reverberated off the room. Hercules brought out a few more things that he had bought to keep the girl busy while she was there with no one to keep her company. The child seemed to marvel at them all, but had seemingly found favor with the bear.

Content that Alice seemed happy enough with what he had gotten her, and watching as she started messing with some of the things, Thomas sank down into the chair next to the bed…

CRACK.

Alice's head whipped around just in time to see the super-strength hero's chair break into a thousand pieces, the cheap wood and cushions unable to support his weight as he hit the floor, face up with wide, startled eyes.

A silence filled the room. The mountain of a man just sat there for a few moments, not moving at all as Alice stared down at him.

"…I'll hide the evidence. We tell no one."

That's what finally broke the barrier. Alice laughed out loud, quiet as it may have been, and a genuine smile alighting her face.

As Thomas sat on the floor like an idiot, he smiled, knowing he'd done something right.

It wasn't until three weeks had passed that Alice was released from the hospital and into Thomas' care. The two of them had a few meetings with Emma Bullock, the Child Protective Service agent assigned to them, both separately and together, before he got the official 'okay' to foster the girl.

Technically she didn't need to stay in the hospital that long, but Hercules had been more than willing to pay for her stay if it was what kept Alice from being place in a children's home or a juvenile center until he could get foster approval. During all that time, Thomas spent as much time as he could—between his hero duties and foster screenings—with Alice. Working hard to keep breaking the ice between them and to gain her trust.

And he was succeeding.

She slowly warmed up to him more and more, and he was happy he was gaining her trust, overcoming the clear wariness she held towards heroes. She opened up to him a little more with each visit, and by the end of the third week, it seemed she was on board with the idea of staying with Thomas. and even her shadows didn't even come out and bother them when he was around. He liked to think that meant he got their seal of approval, or at the very least they didn't consider him a threat anymore.

Though the girl still refused to say anything on what she knew about the Yamazaki family, Hercules was able to get the police to back off from her after the first two interviews nearly left her in panics. The last thing any of them needed were officers traumatizing her more than she already was by interrogating the poor child and forcing her to spill everything she knew about the Yakuza group.

She'd tell him about it when she was ready. Forcing her could make him lose the trust she'd put in him. She was like a rabbit, after all, easily frightened, easily scared off. They needed to take things slow and be careful with her.

Though Alice may have been fine physically, it was clear that she wasn't completely okay. Her smiles seemed forced half the time, and the girl almost always seemed nervous, afraid. Like something bad was going to happen at any moment. Always staring out the window like she was looking for something. For someone.

If he had to take a guess, he'd say that she was looking for any signs of this 'Mr. Crow', who, by the sounds of it, was the member of the Yamazaki family that she was closest too. A bigwig member, probably her unofficial guardian in the group.

It worried him that he hadn't heard anything new on the group. Walt had said that it was likely there were more of the Yakuza family here in their city, but there was no concrete reason as to why. He'd done some research and he couldn't find anything out in the Kansai region that might have driven an entire Yakuza family to the states, and he couldn't think of anything new going on in the crime world that had shown up on the radar that might have dragged the Yamazaki family out here for some deals.

Could it be they were simply trying to expand their boarders? Make contact with the black markets here in the west?

Too many possibilities and he didn't like it.

But, no, he didn't need to focus on it, he'd let the police worry about investigations, it was their job after all. They'd contact him if and when he was needed, right now he had other things to focus on. Alice, primarily.

Today was the day he was taking her home with him, after all. He hoped she was excited, he knew he was, eager to finally get her out of this hospital and let her stay in a real home.

A smile covered his face as he walked down the hospital hall towards the familiar room where she was kept. A few of the doctors and nurses gave him polite nods but most didn't pay him much heed, too focused on their own tasks. He wondered what he should make her for dinner, it'd be her first meal home, after all.

Passing a window, Thomas paused to look out it, taking in the sight of the beautiful day. It was like the weather knew that today was the big day and decided to be sunny just for them.

"I really hope she likes it there," Thomas said out loud and then let his gaze drop. Hopping on the ledge to the window next to his were a couple of crows fighting over something, or maybe just playing together with it. They paused and stared at him, and Thomas let out a laugh "I doubt you're the 'Mr. Crow' she keeps talking about," he said to himself as he shook his head.

One of them flew over to perch on the ledge of the window he was on, it's beak tapping against the glass and Thomas just gave a soft smile. "Sorry, you can't get in here."

Leaving the birds to their own devices, Thomas turned and started walking again. It was time to take Alice home.

Home. What a funny thought, it left a warm feeling in his chest.


	3. 3rd Life Block Out Their Words

Honestly, Thomas wasn't even sure how to go about raising a kid, and for the first few days since bringing Alice into his home, he had to question if he was even fostering a kid at all.

She was scarce to be seen. Always in her room, not coming out unless he invited her out to do something he thought she might enjoy, or to get her to eat or bathe. After some prodding and asking, he'd come to the conclusion that she was essentially conditioned by 'Mr. Crow' to not leave her room unless told to.

And, when he had given her a bath and saw her bare flesh, saw the faded scars along her arm and body, for a rare moment his mood had turned somewhat murdery. She refused to answer where the scars came from, who inflicted them.

She was quiet as a mouse, always hesitant, like the poor girl was scared he'd kick her out if she did one thing wrong. Whenever she was in the room, he could see the shadows in the corners squirming and writhing, as though waiting.

Alice was careful not to make him mad, and Thomas had to be careful not to set off her quirk.

As he went about to make dinner for the two of them, his mind continued to circle around Alice, and his new position as a parent, foster as it may be, and how he was supposed to go about it.

Trying to juggle being a hero along with it was one of the harder parts he'd found. He ended up having to take off some time from the hero business, a well-deserved 'vacation' of sorts while he tried to figure out how to be a parent.

He'd considered asking other professional heroes how they managed to be a pro hero and a parent at the same time. But most heroes tended to keep their personal lives separate from their professional lives, for the safety of their families from potential villain attacks after all, and the heroes he did know were all single or childless.

For a moment, Thomas considered taking a few notes from Endeavor, wasn't Japan's Number 2 Hero the father of a few kids?

As soon as he considered that thought, he was shaking it out of his head furiously. His interactions with the foreign hero were very rare, he didn't travel to Japan often and the Flame Hero came to America even less, but he didn't like the man. Even more, the way he acted around his kids rubbed Thomas the wrong way.

He'd heard the rumors following the hero, too. People liked to talk, speculate, and you'd find a lot if you read the right forums. Quirk Marriage being the least terrible of them. It made his stomach churn, and his heart went out to the Todoroki kids.

The day he looked to Endeavor for parenting tips was the day he was far beyond simply 'desperate'.

Yet Thomas couldn't help but sigh as he continued messing around in the kitchen, he just wanted to do the right thing, and it had seemed so easy in theory, and she had warmed up to him during her time in the hospital, but it felt like they'd gone three steps back since coming home.

He was going to have his work cut out for him, that much was certain.

* * *

It wasn't that Alice hated living with Thomas.

At first his home had been a bit overwhelming, so much different from the small offices and apartments she'd be shuffled to and from when she was with Mr. Crow, who was constantly on the move because of work, never settling down in one place for more than a couple of weeks at most. The hero's house had more life to it, more personality than the Spartan interior of her old homes, which only had the necessities and just a handful of 'personal' touches that amounted only to a toy or a few books.

And Thomas was nice. That wasn't to say Mr. Crow wasn't nice, he always treated her fairly and gently, but Mr. Crow had told her to distrust heroes. To distrust anyone outside of their family. That they were liars, they hurt others for fame and glory, and didn't care about anyone but their own reputation, but, Thomas was nicer than he made heroes out to be.

She didn't hate her temporary home. But that didn't mean living here was perfect. There were some good things about living with Thomas, but there were plenty of bad things, too.

The worst part of moving in had been the times Alice had been alone in her room, which was rather often, she hated to admit. Being alone meant being alone with _them._ Her quirk. Her shadow.

She'd find herself in her room with the light off, hugging Santa, her white teddy bear, close to her chest as she curled up in a corner, closing her eyes tight as though if she didn't look at them she'd be safe. They'd leave her alone.

She envied Thomas. He could only see the shadows, he didn't have to hear them, feel them.

They… didn't hate being here, but they weren't happy either, and they made it clear. They didn't like Thomas, they didn't like anyone, but they especially didn't like Thomas. And they kept reminding Alice that she shouldn't be here.

That she didn't belong here. Not in this house, not in this world of heroes and light. Not with Thomas' dazzling smile and hearty laugh or warm heart. This wasn't where she was supposed to be, what she deserved to have. She hadn't done anything to deserve something as nice as this.

 _You're a bad, bad, bad girl._

 _You already have a home and yet you're here._

She'd hug the stuffed bear closer, pretending that Santa could protect her as she closed her eyes tighter, listening to the voices, slimy and sweet, slither around her head and leaving trails of poison behind them.

As violent as the shadows may be to protect her, they loved to torment her just as much. Sometimes it was hard to tell if they really did care for her, or if they just did what she asked them—which wasn't often because she was scared of what they might do to her—because they couldn't do anything without her.

Sometimes it felt like all she was, was just a host to them, that they only protected her because they'd die if she died. Her quirk had its own mind, its own priorities, Alice was just their car, their mode of transportation, she was just along for the ride. But they needed her alive.

That's why they kept her safe and fought off any threats that got too close.

Like how they fought off the mugger who killed Mr. Kazama.

They tore, they tore him apart and apart and apart until there was nothing left but squishy, pulpy meat soaked red. Because he made a move at Alice, because he intended to kill her because she was a witness because she could point him out to the police because she could tell Mr. Crow who killed Kazama because she had been there, because because because because—

 _He's going to think the bastard killed you too._

 _Or worse, stole you away. He doesn't like thieves and now you're stolen goods._

 _Oooh, Alice, your breaking his heart._

She tried to ignore the voices.

Tried to ignore the way the tips of her fingers tingled like a thousand needles, her heart beating a mad race in her chest, tried to ignore the perspiration streaming down her temples. She felt her breathing start to go ragged—it was hard to breathe she couldn't breathe— her grip on Santa gone as her arm came up and started scratching at her neck.

 _Scrtch, scrtch, scrtch_

Scratching would soon turn to clawing if this kept up, and clawing would turn to gouging. Her neck, already raw and scarred from her past attacks, yielded easily to her blunt fingernails.

Alice opened her eyes, in the darkness of her room, she could see the shadows everywhere, squirming, writhing like worms in every corner, alive. The color was drained from her vision, like a cadaver bleeding out in a slaughterhouse, leaving her reality bloodless, anemic. She was glad to be sitting because her legs were weakened, if she were standing they would falter and shake like an autumn leaf caught in a storm, ready to break off and send her tumbling into oblivion.

Her twitchy gaze swept the shadows surrounding her, reaching for her, touching her, wrapping around her and not letting go. Not ever letting go. Not ever letting her be free from them.

 _Your home isn't here. It's with the crow._

 _He_ hates _heroes and you're living with a hero. When he finds out, he's gonna hate you._

 _If he doesn't already._

Alice didn't want him to hate her, Mr. Crow had been the only one there for her for as long as she could remember.

But, Thomas was nothing like he said heroes were. He wasn't corrupt, manipulative, or selfish. He cared about her, he was nice, really awkward, but nice, and he was trying hard. He was good. He was a good person. He didn't hurt her.

She liked him and she felt safe around him.

He was nice to her in the hospital, and the only one who visited her. He didn't force her to talk about Mr. Crow and the others even though he probably knew she knew them. Even if it would have been beneficial to him as a hero to know who and where they were. Even if it was _important_ that he know so he could stop the, do his job, be the hero and stop Mr. Crow and the others, he never forced to talk.

He saved her when she was in the alley, alone and scared, gave her a place to stay.

Mr. Crow would understand, right?

 _You're being selfish!_

 _Selfish selfish selfish!_

Her heart felt like it was going to burst like a potbellied balloon when you apply too much pressure, ready to spew its vile bile all over the room. She found herself slipping, falling onto her side, her head against the cool hardwood floor—a small respite when her forehead burned like the heart of a sun—and her mind raved.

The shadows crept over her, gripping her, tugging her, ready to tear her apart and put her back together in their own perfect image. Ready to devour her and spit her out. Her nails continued scratching, blood spreading and smearing over her thin neck and kept scratching, digging deeper and deeper and deeper.

 _Your betraying him. After all he did for you, you betray him._

 _You took a hero over him._

 _Useless. Do you not need him anymore? Are you going to cast him aside like this?_

Spinning, spinning, her mind was spinning, she felt like she was falling into an abyss. The shadows dig their fingers in, into her body, into her mind, take their bite.

And then, the world split and burst in a diaphanous rain which showed, through the distended and misshapen fragments—the thing.

The monsters.

The jagged teeth and dozens of red eyes, the wrangled, twisted limbs and flowing forms. Through all the cracked shards of her consciousness, she felt all that it felt, and all its brutality, colossal when compared with the rest of the worlds, it invaded and flowed inside her, pumped in and out by her fragile little heart, feeding into her organs, into her body, corrupting and tainting her with its putrid poison.

And all of Alice's intentions, try as she might all of the childlike innocence inside of her was not enough to keep the darkness at bay, _never enough,_ and her goodwill and strength wilted and melted like snow before the hot sun.

 _If you're too scared to make him proud, we can do it for you._

 _He'll be so proud of you if you just kill the hero._

 _He'll love you forever and never discard you if you kill him. He's nothing like her after all, he wouldn't throw you away._

She shuddered, tried to block it out. It's hungry, oh so hungry, it could devour the whole world and not be satiated. And it's not enough, this awful _hunger_ which tears her insides in two and spreads her apart, and it itches—it itches so awful and her nails keep digging in deeper and deeper but it won't go away.

Why wasn't Mr. Crow here? Where was he, why hadn't he come to get her? She messed up, he was angry at her and abandoned her, she screwed up and lost him and was never getting him back. This shadows slithered around her, coiling tight like they were trying to crush her for her sin.

 _You won't have to do a thing, just let us do it all for you._

 _We've dealt with so many others for you._

 _Let us deal with the hero._

She remembered the foul, oppressive odor of death, the way the stench clogged her nose, drowned her senses, the sight of the blood filling her vision, how it felt— sticky and warm—as it hit her skin, the way his eyes bulged and glossed over as his body was mangled, the way the shadows continued to tear him apart long after he died. Until he didn't look human anymore, until he was indistinguishable to the raw grounded meet at stores.

The world was tilted on its axis, no, not tilted. It was skewered, crooked in a way it shouldn't be. Decaying, rotting, falling apart at the seams. The bloody stench haunting her. Bile rose in her throat, ready to escape into the world. The memory of all the blood, the screaming, the begging. It pounded on her skull. Crushing her into the floor.

There was a knock on the door.

"Alice, are you okay in there?" Thomas asked from the other side, his voice loud, drowning out everything else and leaving only his bodyless presence left like a beacon of strength, a pillar, a safety net. "Dinner will be ready soon."

And the shadows crawled back into the recesses of the Hell they came out from. The screaming was silenced, and she remembered laughter, warm and boisterous and loud, but genuine and kind. She remembered large and warm hands on her, helping her, carrying her and promising to protect her.

The world rightened itself out. Her nails withdrew from her—now burning and aching and bleeding—neck as she found her breathing evening out.

"Okay…" she called out to the hero, her voice a slight tremble as she pushed herself back up to sitting.

How was she going to explain the neck to him? Could she patch it up without him seeing? He'd still ask questions. But he wouldn't be upset, Thomas didn't seem to get upset. He'd be worried and concerned, but he wouldn't be upset. He'd be understanding, he'd apologize, blame himself, he wouldn't be mad she hurt herself. Mr. Crow always got disappointed when she attacked her neck like that.

"I'll be setting the table, make sure you wash your hand before you eat!" and she could hear him, his heavy footsteps, as he retreated away from her door and down the stairs, leaving her alone in her room, but his presence lingered, like his own shadow remained to ward off the darkness and poison trying to drown her.

The shadows hesitated, but withdrew completely back to where they belonged in her own shadow.

 _The Crow…_

Mr. Crow… he wasn't here… he wasn't going to be happy… she didn't want his disappointment. But…

She took a breath to steady herself. "Mr. Crow will come and get me if he doesn't like me being here. But, he'll be okay with it. Mr. Crow wants what's best for me and if I'm safe and happy here, he'll be happy." Right? He wouldn't be mad, would he? She was terrified that he'd abandon her, and she was trying to assure herself more than the shadows.

He always said that what he did was for her sake, for her future. That her safety was important to him.

If she was safer with Thomas, he'd be okay with it. And if not, he'd come and take her back home with the others. There was no need to hurt Thomas, to feel this way, to let the shadows play this game with her.

"You're, you're not going to hurt him and a-and you're not going to do anything unless I tell you to, you will behave while we're here," Alice commanded the shadows, trying to imitate the presence of Thomas and authority of the Crow. Her hand was shaking.

"You're _my_ quirk, an, a part of me and you will do what I say."

She could _feel_ their agitation, their irritation. The idea that she was giving them orders, was trying to act like she was in charge—since when was she the one in charge?!—it was an insult. An offense. She could feel the writhing tendrils crawling up her, wrapping around her neck and pulling tight. Could feel their wrath.

Alice stood her ground, didn't scream or flinch. They couldn't hurt her, _wouldn't_ hurt her, she reminded herself. They'd suffer too if she was harmed. And sure enough the tendril released its grip on her throat and slunk back into the darkness.

And, for a brief moment, Alice felt something new from the shadows. Something she couldn't quite describe. Approving, satisfaction…

Respect?

No, that couldn't be.

But, the shadows didn't make another move, not even a whisper in her ear as she began reaching for the door. Either way, Alice could take this as her first small victory, a small step towards dominance and control over her power.

Mr. Crow would be proud.

But, as she glanced one last time into her room before slipping out, into the darkness where nothing but shadows and nightmares rested, she thought she saw something out her window. Something small and dark watching with beady eyes from a branch, before taking off into the sky.

And she felt like she hadn't be abandoned.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

And with this chapter, we're caught up to the AO3 version, so they'll be updating at the same time from now on.


	4. 4th Life As Time Passes By

Two weeks had passed since Alice had officially moved in with Thomas, and at first Thomas had to wonder if he really had taken in a child with how scarce she was the first few days, hiding in her room and hesitant to come out if he didn't ask her too. He had a bit of suspicion that 'not leaving her room unless told to' was another of the rules the people she had been with put on her.

He was careful not to pry to deeply into that topic though, she didn't like talking about the Yamazaki family and forcing her to do so wouldn't be right.

When he found her in the bathroom trying to bandage her bleeding neck and saw the bloodstains on her fingernails, he had felt his gut wrench and twist in the worst way. She struggled to piece herself back together with only one arm and looked nervous when she saw Thomas watching her, so he had wordlessly cleaned up the blood, disinfected the deep scratches and bandaged the injury up. She looked ashamed as he also clipped her fingernails.

He knew that he couldn't stop her from gouging at her neck when she got anxious, the least he could do for now was make it so her nails wouldn't do as much damage.

She seemed to get better over the weeks, warming up to him more and more with each day, growing more comfortable with her new home. But Hercules couldn't help but feel it was just a mask, that her smiles were forced more than genuine, that the shadows squirming in the corners were just waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Over the weeks she never really said anything about her life before coming here, what her home life before had been like. She made sure to avoid talking about the Yamazaki family and only briefly mentioned this 'Mr. Crow' now and then.

And for a few moments here and there, Thomas would find himself thinking. Thinking that, had he not found her, had she stayed with the Yamazaki family, she would have likely turned into a powerful and dangerous villain with a quirk like hers. Certainly one that would have given the pro heroes more than a little trouble.

He hoped that now that she was in his care, he could avoid that sort of fate from happening.

It was better not to give the villains any more strong quirks.

Eventually they'd found something of a routine and he spent his days for the two weeks just helping Alice to adjust to her new life, doing what he could to make her comfortable and happy. He'd taken a month off as 'vacation time', citing to his agency that there were private and personal matters he needed to attend to that they relayed to the news. Of course his agency knew about Alice, but the world didn't. He wanted to keep the fact that he was in the process of adoption out of the medias radar.

But just because he was focusing this time on watching Alice didn't mean he could ignore the world when there was a serious problem. His sense of justice and impulse to help wouldn't allow it.

And so, the first time he'd gotten an emergency call one night, he'd blindly panicked, not sure how he was supposed to leave Alice alone for the night—especially considering the nightmares she'd sometimes have that he'd have to coax her out off—when he didn't know how long he'd be gone.

He ended up waking up Alice, who also joined the panic by just not knowing what was going on beyond seeing Thomas freaking out. The result was two broken lamps and a hole in the wall.

In the end, the commotion awoke their neighbor; an elderly woman with a small body, pleasant disposition, and diamond skin. She had agreed to watch over Alice for the night while Thomas, still in his pajamas, bounded off to the scene.

When he returned at two in the morning, she had gently reminded him that she was moving to stay with her daughter and son-in-law in New York very soon, and he would need another plan other than "Wake the Neighborhood."

And so, he found himself making use of his extensive list of hero contacts.

Of course, some of the heroes he worked with were disqualified from the job right away, as being too far away, too busy, or not good with kids. Finding a hero who had the time to take care of Alice, wouldn't be a horrible influence and could handle a kid was tricky. Having experience with kids would be helpful.

In the end, Thomas found one, a perfect candidate in his opinion, though it had taken some time to persuade the support hero to help him, and even some added bribery before he got the man to agree right as Thomas' month long 'vacation' ended.

"You do know I have a job, right?" Adriel "Patchwork" Traynor had said as he hoisted his dull blue duffle bag over his shoulder—Thomas had seen that bag go with him everywhere, it had books, snacks, and various medical supplies for emergencies.

Adriel was a professional hero, a support class to be specific, and a licensed medical doctor. He was one of the most trustworthy people Thomas knew.

The hero was currently adjusting the bronze cuffs on his costume, getting ready to head out to do his patrols and remind the villains that _he was here_ and hoping All Might didn't sue him for using that line. "It's summer, Adriel, the new school term won't start for another three months," he reminded the younger man gently. "The Academy's summer program won't need all three nurses on standby. I'm sure the other two can handle a few months without you. Besides, you wouldn't have agreed if it was that big of a hassle for you."

To be honest, it hadn't been easy to get Adriel to agree to play the role of a babysitter. Thomas had to put on all his charm in smooth talking and a bit of bribery. Though he felt like Adriel had agreed more easily than he normally would have, usually he would have put up more resistance if he didn't want to do it. So Thomas had a feeling that Adriel had been dreadfully bored without something to do and that was why he caved so easily.

"He's a doctor? I didn't see him at the hospital," Alice mumbled from where she sat on the stairs, hidden behind the railings but watching them all the same. Now that her first month of living here was over, she seemed to have made herself at home, much to his delight. There was still the occasional panic attack, though she had been prescribed anxiety medication and Thomas had been taking classes on how to best assist her through those.

Adriel adjusted his glasses, his sharp eyes locking onto her. "I don't work in hospitals anymore unless it's an emergency. Mirren—the headmaster of Garrick Academy—asked me to work as the school nurse, something about needing a competent medic to patch up all these reckless heroes in training when they do something stupid and break their bones," he said in a calm, if not snippy tone.

"Is that different from being a doctor?"

"Doctors do a lot more work than a nurse. There's not as much pressure or as many surgeries. Honestly, being a school nurse is quite dull in comparison," Adriel answered.

They left it at that and Hercules quickly finished getting ready, flipping the lion cowl over his head as he reached for the door. "I'll be back later today," he called out to Alice who had bounded down the stairs to watch him go. He gave her a wide smile, stepping away from the door to kneel in front of her when she got close. "Be a good girl and don't mind Adriel if he says something mean. He's got a sharp tongue but a good heart."

"I will. Bye-bye, Thomas! Be safe!" Alice said, smiling as he patted her on the head and left.

When he heard the door shut, Adriel settled himself on the plush couch and reached into his bag. Pulling out an old novel that he had been meaning to finish but never had the time, he busied himself with reading.

He barely even acknowledged Alice quietly sneaking past him from behind the couch and as time ticked on, he noticed that for the most part, the girl was quiet. He could easily forget that she was even there with how little noise she left. It was refreshing to be around a child who wasn't as rambunctious or annoying as the students at the Academy, and he did appreciate her not following him around like his shadow like several girls at the school did.

What was with women and their infatuation with older men? They did realize that he wasn't going to date any of them, right? Not only was it illegal because of their ages, but he was a member of the faculty while these teenage girls were students. And most importantly; he wasn't interested in any of them as more than students.

Adriel had gotten three chapters read when he heard frantic scribbling from the kitchen. Lowering the book, he peered in through the open entryway, watching where the child seemed to be trying to write something at the table.

He could have let it go, he was just supposed to make sure the kid didn't get herself killed while Thomas was gone, after all. But, he was a hero and that side was getting the better of him right now, so he got up and went over to the table. When he plopped down on a chair, he nearly scared Alice out of hers. He didn't miss the way her shadows trembled and shifted.

"What are you doing that has you scribbling like a loon over here?" Adriel asked as he peered down at the book she had been writing in. It was math homework from one of those "Learning to Write" Books for grade schoolers, something Thomas had probably gotten her to help her prepare for school come September. After all, who knew what kind of education she had been receiving prior to being placed in the idiots custody.

She didn't look at him, "I… um, I was just having some trouble with some letters," she answered, eyes down as she tried to write—if what she was doing could be called that—again. Adriel sensed the lie in her words and honestly he couldn't even understand what she was writing. The penmanship was just horrible, but he could assume that it was because she probably wasn't lefthanded, and could understand the difficulty of writing with your non-dominant hand.

Adriel was quick. Just as the pencil came up, his hand shot out and snatched the small work book out from under her. "Hey!" Alice reached for the book, but he held it too far for her small arm to get.

Skimming through the scribbles and making sense of the words as best he could, Adriel felt a frown forming on his face as he slid a blank piece of scratch paper over to her. "Write down and spell out 'apple' for me."

Alice blinked, "Huh?"

"Apple. Spell it."

"A…p…p…e…l?"

"Shine."

"S… h…i…n…e?"

"Dog."

"That's easy," Alice smiled, "D. O. G."

"Dream."

"D…r…e…m…e."

"Sentence."

"S…e…n…t…e…n…s…e."

The book came down and Adriel pointed at the first line of scribbles on the paper she was using. "Not completely horrible, but you got more wrong than you should have," he grabbed one of the spare pencils off the table and circled the 'le' and 'el' from the two papers. "It might be tricky, but you want to remember which words end with an 'el' and which ones don't. Apple has the 'e' at the end, not the 'l'.

Honestly, shouldn't a seven-year-old know how to spell these words? Was no one teaching her English? Then again, the Yamazaki group wasn't American, maybe they had been teaching her kanji or hiragana instead.

Either way, forget the book. If someone didn't sit down with this kid, she was never going to figure any of this out.

And so for the next couple of hours, Adriel found himself helping her not just with her summer English homework, but also with some reading assignments, because not only was she bad at spelling, but had trouble reading, too. They even got through some of her math homework, which he found out, was the better of her subjects. Though she didn't like it.

But what kid actually liked math?

Thomas came back sometime in the evening, thanking Adriel over and over for watching over Alice and helping her out, and Alice asking him if she was going to see him again. To which Adriel responded probably not. He was back the same time next morning.

It became a regular thing.

As the summer days came and gone, while Thomas was off playing hero as Hercules, Adriel would be loitering at his house, making sure that Alice didn't kill herself while the giant was gone. He'd help her with her summer work as well, and occasionally had to bring her out of a panic attack, using his quirk on himself whenever her shadows got too violent.

Alice warmed up to him surprisingly quickly, all things considered. She was a shy child and he wasn't the most approachable person after all. But, somehow she took a shine to him and Adriel didn't have it in him to tell her to stop bothering him.

There were other milestones along the way besides her improved social skills, but Adriel had essentially become a common sight in the household over the summer break, often found just sitting on the couch reading, even when he wasn't actually babysitting.

He was still a present figure when September rolled around and the new school year started, when Alice began attending elementary school and Adriel resumed work at Garrick Academy. He would still come over a few times a week to watch Alice and help her with her schoolwork or come in when Thomas called, needing a hand in watching her.

And the house next to Thomas', the one whose elderly owner had moved out of?

In the end Katherine Rayn had moved in it (Thomas had a feeling it was at Adriel's recommendation but neither would fess up). A thirty-something pro hero who had gone into semi-retirement to focus on teaching at Garrick Academy, and was more than happy to be a backup babysitter when Adriel wasn't available.

And, of course, she had taken to Alice instantly. Claimed that unlike her students at the academy, Alice was far more well behaved and respectful.

By the end of month four, Thomas had a routine down—get up, make breakfast, wake Alice and get them both fed and cleaned and out the door. Alice would be dropped off at school—which had plenty of security as it had plenty of children from pro heroes attending, and while she was at school he did his daily rounds.

He'd pick her up at three, and if he was preoccupied, Adriel would pick Alice up and take her home, helping her with her homework until Hercules arrived with enough takeout to feed the three of them and Katherine if she chose to join them.

School seemed to be going well for Alice, too. She had only had three breakdowns that required Thomas to stop what he was doing and race to the school to ensure she was okay, overwhelmed was the cause. Understandable, it was her first time in a classroom full of kids, kids who would be energetic and curious and asking questions that she may not want to answer. And of course they would ask about her arm.

But she was doing her best to get along with her classmates, to get through school and to do well. Thomas thought it was very brave of her to be working so hard.

And between all this, Alice was regularly seeing a therapist.

It had been recommended by both the hospital and the social worker that Alice see counseling, because it was apparent that she had a lot of problems to work through and she seemed to be making progress from what Thomas could tell.

But it truly felt like she was family to him, over the months Thomas really had come to care and love the girl, and he looked forward to being able to officially make her a part of his family.

At the five month mark, Emma Bullock showed up at Thomas' door for the scheduled meeting. However, the one who answered the door was not the mountain of a man with a mess of long brown hair, but a tall and slender blonde in a turtleneck sweater.

He looked at her, face impassive. "Hello?"

Emma cleared her throat. "Yes, hello, I have a meeting with Mr. Hendrickson? I am Ms. Bullock, Alice's designated CPS representative," she said, introducing herself and holding a hand out to the man.

"Adriel Traynor." He didn't take the hand and she let it fall back to her side.

At that moment, Alice peeked out from behind the man's legs and her expression brightened. "Oh, hi, Ms. Bullock!" she greeted and Emma noticed, first and foremost, how much healthier the girl appeared compared to when she first saw her in the hospital five months ago. Her hair was tied into two small pigtails hardly made it past her jaw. She held onto Adriel with her one arm and looked up at him.

"Mr. Adriel, we should let her in, she _does_ have an appointment with Thomas and me today."

Adriel sighed and pushed his glasses up with a single finger before opening the door wider to allow her in. "Sorry, usually Hendrickson is back by now I'm sure he's rescuing a kitten from a tree or something."

Emma nodded and let herself in, making her way to the kitchen, where she usually conducted her interviews due to the convenience of the table there, taking a seat to wait. Alice bounced ahead the same way, it seemed.

When she entered she saw the table covered in papers. Schoolwork, she noted. It made sense that Alice would be in school by now and she was glad that Thomas hadn't shied away from enrolling her when the school year began. It was important for a child's growth to be surrounded by kids her age and it would help her to make friends her own age.

Adriel walked in quietly behind them, "Would you like some coffee? I'm making a pot while helping the girl over here with history."

Alice made a face, the pencil in her hand trembling as she struggled to hold it right. "History is boring."

"Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it," the man intoned and Emma blinked at the way he said it. His posture and attitude seemed aloof, but there was warmth in his voice, hidden there but there nonetheless. Adriel looked at her, "So, coffee?"

"Yes, please. Black if I may," she said as she sat across from Alice in a spot clear of paper. The handwriting was still awful, but it was somewhat legible now. Alice had clearly worked hard to improve her penmanship despite not being naturally lefthanded.

Adriel sat down and handed her a cup of coffee, which she accepted and thanked for him. He took a gulp of his own and turned to the sheet. Skimming over the words and looking to the book. "Looks like you got far enough for now. It's not due until Monday, right?" Alice nodded. "Okay, put it away and we'll start working on your handwriting. Actually, take five. Go… not break anything."

Alice huffed as she packed up the papers. "I don't break things, the shadows do."

As she mentioned them, her shadow rippled and Adriel shot it a glare. It seemed the shadows had grown a bit more calm since her days in the hospital. Perhaps that meant even they seemed to deem this place safe for her. Or maybe they just didn't see a point in causing a problem.

"They're _your_ shadows, _your_ quirk; what they do is your responsibility too," Adriel reminded and Alice grumbled something as she ran off. Now with the girl gone, Emma was in Adriel's full attention, and he in hers. "So… CPS?" he questioned, thin eyebrow raised.

She took a sip of the coffee. "Yes. I've been on Alice's case for the last five months. May I ask, what is your relation here?" she pulled out a tablet. "I need to update my files anyway, and with Mr. Hendrickson disposed…" She didn't recall him mentioning any relatives who would be involved, and Adriel didn't resemble the man at all to be blood related, and nothing was said in her past meetings about any sort of partner.

"Yeah, he's an airhead," Adriel muttered. "I'm basically the kids babysitter and tutor. I come over three times a week or more when the Number One Mess has emergencies to care for and Katherine isn't available."

"I see," she wrote a few things on the tablet, "and you simply watch over her as well as tutor?"

"No," he sipped his coffee.

She waited for further clarification but none came. "And?"

"Oh," he blinked, "I'm a pro hero. Patchwork."

Emma, with speeds that those with speed quirks would envy, Googled the name. Sure enough, it pinged on an official hero registry. She clicked the link.

 _Patchwork, Healing Hero. Quirk: Recovery. Specializes in hand-to-hand combat. Licensed doctor, employed at Garrick Academy as nurse._ His stats continued to look fairly good, and there were plenty of positive reviews on his registry page from various hospitals and different people, heroes and civilians alike, commending him on the lives he's saved through both modern medicine and his quirk.

She had to hand it to Hendrickson, for a babysitter, he seemed to have chosen a good candidate, even if Adriel didn't seem the talkative or social kind.

Adriel looked as though he was about to say something, but it was at that moment that the front door sprang open. "Sorry for the wait, I'm back!"

"Hi Thomas!"

"Hello, my dear girl!"

Adriel rose from his seat, his expression looking like that of one who was ready to just die at that moment, as he began to gather his things. "Well, I'm done. Good luck with the idiot," he neatly put his papers into the duffle bag that had laid beside his chair. Emma noticed that much of what he grabbed had been workbooks.

It seemed that he brought his own course material as well as helped Alice on her regular school work. She couldn't help but add a small star in her notes for that. A good tutor is a good sign, means he's serious.

"Before you go, Adriel, I bought some deserts on my way back, and I have one for you as thanks for today," Thomas said as he entered the kitchen, holding out a boxed single-serving cake to the younger man. Alice was holding one in her own hand as she hovered behind the pro hero.

Adriel just grumbled a thanks as he took the treat, gave Alice a brief head pat as he headed out, the door quietly clicking behind him. With the other man gone, Thomas turned to Emma, pushing the cowl of his costume off.

"Ah, Ms. Bullock! Please excuse my tardiness, I was apprehending a villain across town that gave me a bit of issues. I would have contacted you, but…" he pulled from his pocket a water-soaked phone that was beyond use, looking rather embarrassed. "Her quirk was water-based."

Alice giggled a little and Emma couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"Please, accept this as my apology," he held out the third and last boxed cake out to her.

Accepting the desert, Emma gestured to the table, "At ease, Mr. Hendrickson. If you would give me a few minutes to set up, we can get this meeting done, as I'm sure you'd like to take some time to breathe after coming back from hero work. I'll need to speak to Alice first and then you."

Thomas nodded, "That's okay. We'll be out in the living room while you set up."

He put a hand on Alice's back and ushered her into the living room. As Emma began taking out the remaining files from her bag, she listened to the conversations going on in the other room.

"Thomas, now you don't have your own cake!"

"It's fine, my girl. After all, sacrificing my own desert is hardly any problem."

"At least have some of mine? It wont be fair if I get cake and you don't."

"Ahaha, well, if you insist, I can take a few small bites."

Emma smiled a bit as she scribbled a few notes down. She had her doubts at first when she heard that the hero wanted to take in the girl, had chalked it up to some publicity stunt, but it was clear that her initial concern had been unneeded. After getting the table all set up, she called out softly to the others.

Short black hair in big tails came into sight as the girl popped into the room, the white teddy bear cradled in her one arm and a fluffy cushion tucked under the same arm. Alice quietly walked to the table, placed her teddy on the table and situated the cushion on the chair before she scrambled up onto it, putting herself at a more even height at the table.

"Hello again," she smiled shyly.

"Hello, Alice," Emma smiled back. "As you know, it's time for my check in, so I have to ask you a few questions."

Forty minutes later, Alice was running to the living room where Thomas was watching TV on low, now out of his costume and dressed in simple jeans and a t-shirt. He'd been watching the news when a small hand shook his much larger one. "Hm?" he looked at Alice. "Ah, are you all done?"

"Uh-huh," she smiled, "Ms. Bullock wants to talk to you, Tommy." Then, her eyes dragged to the TV. "Could I…?"

Thomas smirked as he held the remoted out of reach. "Let me think. Did you get your homework done?"

"Yup!"

"Make your bed?"

"Uh-huh!

"Say 'Hercules is the best hero ever?'"

"I dunno, Adriel is really cool."

Thomas gasped, jerking back and holding a hand to his chest. "Why, you wound me!" he wailed, and then leaned in. "But, between you and me, I agree. Adriel is a far better hero than all the rankings and scores think." He smiled softly as he ruffled the girls hair, getting a giggle out of her, and then handing off the remote. "I entrust this to you."

Alice laughed at that as she flipped the channels until landing on a cartoon and before Thomas headed towards the kitchen, he lingered in the back to make sure his foster daughter was all settled.

 _Daughter._ It was quite a nice word, he thought to himself.

He entered the kitchen with a dazzling smile. "Sorry for the delay," he apologized as he moved the cushion over and sat in the chair his foster child had left. "Wanted to make sure that Alice was all settled in before we got started. Everything go okay?"

Ms. Bullock gave a soft nod. "Actually, more than perfect. Alice seems to be adjusting very well to living with you, and it seems that you have a good system in place. Although, I do have a few questions. Mainly with what you do with Alice when you have to head out at night. She and Traynor have both mentioned a Ms. Kat?"

"Ah, yes, she's our neighbor, a very nice woman," Thomas nodded, running a hand through his long locks of hair. "She's a pro-hero—Dream Eater—and works with Adriel over at Garrick Academy as a teacher. She offered to keep an eye on Alice during the night when they need me out in the field. But, otherwise, I try to keep to day hours while Alice is at school or when Adriel can watch over her."

Emma did a quick search of Dream Eater and gave a hum as she read her entry on the hero registry. As far as babysitters went, having a professional hero wasn't bad at all, at least it guaranteed the child would be safe. "Good, good. And how are you managing with her quirk? If I recall, the shadows are sentient, and Adriel had mentioned they sometimes break things."

"We've made good progress on that, the shadows tend to keep to themselves unless Alice is in a highly agitated or stressed state, and even then they tend not to lash out unless she or they feel threatened," Thomas explained as he thought back to that quirk, he couldn't imagine having to shoulder the burden of something like that, and it only further validated his belief of how strong the girl was to still be standing, "so long as Alice is content, they won't cause any trouble."

He watched as Emma wrote that down before continuing, "The school she's enrolled at provides quirk counseling, as does the therapist she's seeing," he added and gave a weak smile. "I try to help her control her quirk when we're home, but, I'll admit I'm not the best for that. Our quirks are too different for me to provide anything truly helpful."

It wasn't easy trying to explain how to control a quirk when your own was as different as could be. What Alice had was 'Shadow Manifestation' as they were calling it for now, and Thomas had 'Herculean Strength'. The way they functioned, the way they were activated, everything about them was different. It was better to have someone with a quirk similar to hers to teach her how to control it, but quirks like hers weren't common enough to be able to do that. If he remembered right, there was a student over at U.A who had something similar, but, that was all the way on the other side of the world.

"Has she had any incidents since coming to live here? Lashed out? Had breakdowns? It's not too uncommon for children to react negatively while still recovering from something like she went through."

Thomas shook his head. "As I've mentioned in our previous meetings, she has nightmares and she undergoes panic attacks. They've both diminished in frequency, but I still have her on medication for them," he answered. "The therapist is trying to work through it with her, and I'm working on finding things to put in her room to help her feel safer and more comforted at night to help fight them. She still refused to talk about the Yamazaki family too much, and because of how much trauma she's likely endured because of them, I've been refraining from bringing up the subject."

"That's good," Emma nodded, "It's best not to try and pry into that. She'll tell you about them when she's ready. Trying to get her to talk too soon will have adverse effects and may break her trust in you."

She asked a few more questions, about the school that Thomas had enrolled her in, the sort of activities he was doing with her, how well she seemed to be adapting in his household. The girl was doing well in school, she still found difficulty when it came to reading and writing English, but was the top of her class when it came to math, and got along well enough with her classmates. She was still behaving for Thomas when home, wasn't being disruptive, and was still incredibly polite and respectful to everyone, and was growing quicker to trust those around her, especially heroes.

When Emma had asked all she had to ask and had gotten all the answers she wanted, she presented the hero with a smile.

"What I'm hearing is all good things," she said. "Mr. Hendrickson, I am happy to say that you have passed the foster process and can now petition for full custody of Alice."

Thomas felt his heart swell at her words. "I… she's mine?"

"If she wants to be. But, it's apparent to me that she loves it here and is adjusting well. The surprise visits from my colleagues went well, the medical files and therapy visits seem to be doing helping, and from what I've seen, your home is perfectly suitable for raising a child, and safe, too, what with having all these heroes keeping an eye on her," Emma spoke as she closed her file. "And it appears you're working hard to help her control her quirk."

"Yes," Thomas nodded and looked to the door to the living room, "Don't tell her, but I'm going to Garrick Academy next week as a guest lecture and was planning to bring Alice along for a tour of my old school. I was thinking she could meet some other teachers or students and could learn some things from them on how to control quirks."

His smile brightened as he said that.

And, in that moment, Emma knew that this would all work out. "Well, then my job is done here," she nodded and slipped her papers into her bag. "You'll need to petition for final custody of Alice, along with a few other things, but you'll need a family lawyer for that," she pulled a card from her bag. "This woman is one of the best I know and I have a feeling she can help you."

Thomas took the card and stared t it like it was his ticket to heaven, held it like a sacred item. "I... I…" he smiled at the card, looked like he was about to cry. "Thank you so much, Ms. Bullock."

She smiled back, "It's my job to find kids good homes, and I, as part of the city, want to thank you for being one of those homes." She threw her bag over her shoulder. "When you decide on a lawyer, I'll submit my final report and Alice will be yours for good."

Thomas thanked her profusely on her way out, holding the door and telling her that, if she ever needed someone punched in the face, he'd be happy to do it for her. She laughed at his sentiment, probably the first laugh he'd gotten out of her in all five months.

Once she left, Thomas peered into the living room to see Alice absolutely enthralled by the animated movie on the television, Santa tucked up to her side and a Hercules action figure to her other. _Daughter_. Thomas thought. _My daughter._ He smiled and looked down to the card, committing it to memory. This lawyer was going to be his lawyer if Ms. Bullock gave her seal of approval.

 _Isabell Grey, Attorney at Law._

* * *

The TV droned on quietly in the living room as the adults continued to talk over in the kitchen. Alice had long since abandoned whatever show she had been watching, instead had found herself staring intently out the window.

Her small hand pressed against the glass, her eyes wide as she stared at the branches that hung low and close by. Even the shadows rippled and bubbled around her, as though they didn't quite know what to do, how to respond, but their excitement was clear to feel. A quiet whisper ushering her to open the window, climb out, _reunite_.

Beady eyes stared back at her. Black feathers preened to perfection. There were three of them in total, all staring back at her with the same intensity.

"You didn't forget me... I knew you didn't, that you wouldn't," Alice whispered, voice low so Thomas and Emma wouldn't hear. Her eyes shined like stars as she pressed herself harder against the glass, as if trying to phase through it and reach out to the birds staring back at her.

The amount of relief that she felt in that moment, the knowledge that she wasn't alone. That the night all those months ago when she thought she may have seen them had been real—because she had begun to think that she had only imagined it. But she didn't imagine it, they were here, clear as could be. Real.

Really here.

He was really here. He was still watching her, even if it was from afar now, he was still with her. He wouldn't have sent them out here otherwise. He knew where she was, and there was probably a reason why he hadn't come to get her, but he hadn't abandoned her either.

She just wanted to laugh, to cry. She felt so happy that words couldn't even describe.

"Mr. Crow..." she smiled.


	5. 5th Life Parents and their Children

He wasn't sure if Alice noticed the change in his demeanor, the newfound excitement, and the way his eyes misted over with joy whenever he looked at her following the meeting with Emma, and Alice was certain that he hadn't noticed the change in hers. The way she was always looking out the window, eagerly anticipating when she'd next see the murder of crows in the sky or trees watching her. It was clear that the pro hero hadn't noticed, and if he had noticed how she was a little happier _(more than a little, she was in bliss)_ he didn't notice the cause of it. Too wrapped up in his own joy, his own excitement.

Thomas had taken Alice out to his favorite diner the following day as a means to celebrate the news he had yet to tell her. It was a simple burger and fries kind of place, but served in a 60's style, with a classic air to it that he quite enjoyed. Honestly, he was glad that of all things for her to pick up from him during the months they had lived together, she'd taken a love for burgers and shakes like he had.

As they sat in the diner, Thomas was sporting a large hat and shades to offer some protection of his identity, not that it did much good to actually _hide_ his identity. Still, he watched as Alice munched on her food, shoving fries, drenched in ketchup and mayo, into her open mouth.

He intended to tell her about the good news, that he had finally gotten the okay to move forward with the adoption. That she could, would, be his daughter. Just thinking of it, it made his heart swell with a joy he never thought he'd feel. The pride of a father to be. Honestly, becoming a parent had been something he wanted to do sometime in the future, but he had never found himself ready to have a relationship, too busy with his work as a hero to go into dating, and there were always risks involved for civilians who dated heroes. They could become targets for major villains, and they would have to deal with reporters constantly harassing them for some kind of scoop on the hero they were with. It wasn't fair to put his partner through that, so he just stayed away from dating when he started gaining popularity.

But adopting a child he hadn't considered, but now that he had that chance, he didn't want to give it up. Didn't want to give her up. It'd only been five or so months, and Thomas couldn't bear the idea of losing the girl he had been taking care of. She was already a daughter to him even she wasn't legally so yet.

And even though there may still be a family for her out there, and that he may be forced to give her up if her parents ever show up and demand their child back, he wanted to be a parent to her for as long as he could.

He watched the girl a moment more before clearing his throat, "Alice?"

"Yes?" Alice looked up as she nibbled on a fry. There was a bit of her ketchup-mayo mix smeared on her face. Taking a napkin, Thomas reached across the table to wipe it off with a slight chuckle. "Hey! Hey! Not the face!" Alice squirmed back against his offending limb, trying to swat his arm away to no avail.

"Well, if someone could learn how to eat without making a mess at seven," Thomas responded.

Alice stuck out her tongue, when he had finally relented and returned to his own seat, "It's hard to eat a burger with one hand," she reminded, waving her left hand in the air as though for emphasis. She started using her 'I have only one arm' card as an excuse for lots of things nowadays and Thomas had a feeling she picked that up from either Adriel or Katherine.

Regardless, that got a soft laugh and Thomas shook his head as he watched her. The difference between the Alice of now and the small, scared girl he had met months ago was as striking as night and day. She was adapting so well to her life with him, and the teachers said she was doing well, despite the occasional anxiety attacks, and that she got along well with her classmates.

He'd been so worried when he took her to school the first day, as far as he knew she'd never been in a classroom setting and had expected it to be overwhelming for her. Then he got a call explaining that she was staying in the nurses office for the morning because of a panic attack.

He'd wanted to burst into the school right there and take the girl in his arms, telling her it'd be okay and offer her comfort. But he didn't. The school assured him she'd be fine, she just needed some time to breathe and there was nothing to worry about.

And Alice seemed to start to enjoy it after a few days, too. It was the charm of something new, the excitement of something she'd never done before. Her classmates were nice from what she said, and had backed off with their questions after a few days when the novelty of a new student wore off, and she enjoyed getting to know them and seeing their own quirks at work.

He truly felt like a proud parent whenever someone had something positive to say about her.

But thinking of parents… there was still the matter of her actual parents. Despite the months of her in his custody, they'd found so sign of her family. Walt seemed convinced that there wasn't a family for her to go back to now, and Alice didn't have any memory of a family outside this 'Mr. Crow', so he felt inclined to believe the officer.

It was all too possible that the yakuza group she had been in the custody of had killed her parents. She may have blocked out all memories of them out of trauma, or had simply been too young to remember them. After all, with how fluent she was in Japanese, and how long it can take to learn a language, she must have lived in the country or in the Yamazaki's possession for a while. He didn't want to think of how long she must have been suffering with them without even realizing it was abuse.

Shaking his head as though to free himself from those thoughts, Thomas directed his attention onto the child across from him once more.

"Alice, you recall how Ms. Bullock came to visit us yesterday?" Thomas asked, trying to think of how to bring this up to her. He hoped that she would be happy with it, that she would be excited about the news.

Did she even want to be adopted by him? She seemed to enjoy their time together, but it wasn't like he had a mind-reading power. For all that he knew, she had no interest in becoming his daughter and didn't even see him as a father figure. What was he supposed to do if she didn't want this? What if this made things awkward for the two of them?

Get it together, Thomas, stop getting distracted! You're going to worry Alice otherwise!

"Yeah?" Alice had replied, nibbling slowly on another fry.

Thomas found himself tapping his fingers together nervously under the cover of the table, like a schoolgirl about to confess her love to a crush, unable to look her in the eyes with how nervous he was. He faced behemoth of villains and deadly situations daily, yet he found it harder to confront a child about adoption. People would laugh if they found out. "She said that, now that you've been with me these past several months, I can… well… I can adopt you, officially."

The girl stared at him, her head tilted and clearly processing his words. She did know what adoption would mean, right? He wasn't even sure now that he thought of it. But slowly Alice opened her mouth, "O…kay?" she asked and then blinked at him. "Is that… going to change anything?"

She looked so nervous, so worried. Scared of what might come with being adopted, that what they had now might be lost or ruined.

"Well," Thomas rubbed the back of his head. "I have to talk to a lawyer still—I set up an appointment later this week so Adriel's going to be watching you after school, but the basics is that nothing is really going to change. Just some legal documents and, um, I'll legally be your father, not just your guardian."

Alice dropped the fry she had been about to eat, frozen, staring at him with her wide eyes and oh God, Thomas said something wrong hadn't he? Did she have some bad memories or associations with the term 'father'? Did he do something wrong? Was 'father' secretly a trigger word for her and he hadn't realized that until now?

"Father…?"

"Ah, but you don't _have_ to call me that, or consider me that," Thomas quickly added in a hasty recovery. "You can still call me Thomas, or whatever you want. You'll take on my last name, but if you don't want to, we don't have to give you mine."

Alice swallowed, "But… nothing is going to change?" she looked up with worry in her eyes. "What we do and stuff, that's going to stay the same?"

Thomas smiled, feeling a little bit of relief in his chest. So, that's what she was worried about? "My sweet girl, nothing is going to change. I'll still love you as much as I do now, and you'll still live your day-by-day life as you do now."

She didn't seem against it and that meant all the world to Thomas as they continued eating their dinner, laughing and joking like they always did, like there wasn't a care in the world. She didn't seem opposed to the idea at all, well, if she was against it, she wasn't showing it. But, Thomas wanted to believe that it meant that she was all for being adopted by him.

However, when Thomas left to use the bathroom real quick, Alice had a quiet moment to herself, to think.

 _Are you going to let this happen?_

The awful voices of the shadows crept into her mind, wrapping themselves around her thoughts like a webbing. She could see them squirming under the table. Half a dozen red eyes cracking open in the darkness, staring right at her. A tiny, dark hand reached out for her foot as they kept repeating that question over and over again in her head.

Was she going to object? Did she want to? Alice thought back to the last few months, and tried to think back even farther. Her dad, the one by blood, the first dad, all her memories of him were fuzzy, she could barely remember anything concrete, the same with her mom. She remembered a lot of sadness, a lot of pain. She remembered that she hadn't been happy. That she didn't want to remember. Same with her mother when she tried to summon an image or even a memory of her to mind.

She thought of Mr. Crow. He made her feel safe, made her feel at home, at peace. He made her feel special and important and like she was valued, he didn't look at her quirk with fear, didn't treat her like she was just as bad as her quirk. She had been happy with him, there wasn't any doubt in her mind on that, Mr. Crow made her feel happy. She cared about him, loved him, he had always been the first face that came to mind when she thought of 'father' even if there wasn't a drop of blood shared between the two of them.

But even with him, she had this incomplete feeling inside of her. There were too many secrets when she was with him. He had them constantly moving because it was dangerous, she couldn't go outside if he didn't allow it and he rarely allowed it, and she wasn't allowed to ever be out on her own. It felt like she was always in the dark when she was with him, sometimes it felt like she was in a cage, fancy and large it may be, a cage was still a cage.

For her own protection, he said whenever he'd lock her in a room for hours or even a whole day. They had people coming over who might hurt her if they saw her. For her own good, he would tell her whenever he gave her those pills that made her sleepy before they had to move to a new place, so she wouldn't see where they were going, so that it would be easier to keep her safe in the outside world.

The world was filthy and dangerous, so much so that it wasn't safe for her to be alone out there. Except, maybe that filthy and dangerous world wasn't the same world this city was in, because this city was nice, and nothing bad had happened yet.

Mr. Crow didn't smile that often, either, and she couldn't remember hearing him laugh all that much.

Thomas was always smiling and always laughing. He felt warm, and safe, and she didn't feel restricted when she was with him. And now she had friends now in her grade, she had a home full of life and warmth. With Mr. Crow, she only knew the names of a few people who worked for him, and they were always distant with her, like they wanted to interact with her as little as possible, and they were rarely friendly. Kazama had been the only one who worked for Mr. Crow who was nice to her, he always brought her candy and would tell funny stories. But Kazama was dead now. No one else in the family was as nice to her as he was, outside of Mr. Crow, none had ever treated her like a friend.

But the people here did. Adriel was kind of stiff, but he was nice in his own way even if he didn't like to show it, and Katherine was funny, always telling her stories from the place she and Adriel worked. And Thomas was... well, Thomas! He was always nice and warm and always treated her like she belonged, unlike the people that worked for Mr. Crow. They felt like what a family was supposed to be. People you love who loved you back?

 _You already have a family!_

The shadows bristled and tugged on her leg, gripping painfully tight that she was sure they were going to leave a bruise.

 _You have the Crow, why replace him with an obnoxious Eagle?_

 _The Eagle can't protect you and provide for you like the Crow can._

That's right. She had a family waiting for her, there was a reason they were leaving her with Thomas for now, but they were surely waiting for her to come back to them. But it wasn't the same kind of family that Thomas was offering for her. She had Mr. Crow and he knew she was here. But she had Thomas, too.

 _He's just using you._

 _Only being nice so you'll tell him everything about the Crow._

She closed her eyes tightly, that wasn't true! Thomas wasn't using her just to get information out of her, she refused to believe the shadows when they claimed that. But, she knew it was possible, and even though it was possible, she refused to accept it. There was no way he'd still be nice to her after all these months if she refused to tell him anything about what he wanted to know if the shadows were right.

Alice didn't like them putting doubts like that in her mind.

 _You already have the Crow._

And she had Thomas, too. And a peaceful, fun life she never thought she wanted until she got a taste of it.

The shadows clung to her mind, whispering questions, whispering their own opinions as Alice finished off the last of her fries slowly, trying her best to ignore the way they clawed at her brain insistently, demanding that she listen to them that she agree with them. Even so, as she saw the giant of a man returning with that big smile of his, she had to admit that they did raise a good point; did she want to be adopted by Thomas? Did she want to be his daughter?

She didn't want to lose Mr. Crow, he was still the first face that came to mind when she thought of father. But…

Thomas was the face that came to mind when she thought 'family'.

She could have both, couldn't she?

* * *

When Wednesday came, Thomas opted for a simple black suit as he left to meet Ms. Grey. He'd left Alice with Adriel and had left early, very early, just in case something went amiss on his way over. However, it seemed the city was quiet today, save for a bank robbery that was dealt with quickly by the pro hero 'Rush' before Hercules even had to intervene.

He arrived at the building containing Ms. Grey's office and took the stairs instead of the elevator, not wanting to run into fans and further slow his ascent, and not wanting to get there _too_ early at the same time. He entered the small, quaint office area where there was a little waiting area. There was no one in there save for a single man, whom Thomas assumed was a receptionist of sorts.

The young man at the counter was typing away at his desktop didn't look up when Thomas approached.

"Hello, sir, I have an appointment with Ms. Grey?"

"Name?" the young man asked and finally looked up, however when he did, he froze. "Her—Her—"

Clever boy, able to recognize him out of costume—Thomas was still in denial, believing his very obvious 'disguise' actually hid his identity—and he coughed. "I believe I made it out under 'Hendrickson?"

"Ah… yes, yes, sir," the boy began typing at the screen. "If you would, ah, please take a seat. Ms. Grey will be out soon."

Thomas smiled and took a seat on the couch. He flipped through the magazines on the table, but most of them were out of date or just tabloid trash. He sighed, instead shooting a text to Adriel.

 _How's my little girl doing?_

About five minutes passed where Thomas repeated his cycle of looking through old magazines, before his phone buzzed.

 _Not dead._

He frowned at his phone. Then, as if sensing his displeasure at the response, a second text came through.

 _Bugger says hi._

Now _that_ was the kind of thing that he wanted and he smiled.

And, it was at that moment that another door opened. Thomas looked up to see a young woman with black locks falling behind her head, wearing a fashionable and office appropriate black suit with flats. She wasn't the tallest and was a little chubby, but he would have been a liar to say she wasn't pretty.

She looked up, blue eyes meeting green, before she smiled. "Emma did warn me that you'd be calling. Isabell Grey, Attorney at Law, at your service Mr. Hercules."

"Thank you, ma'am," he shook her hand. It was a strong grip, hers that was. Not as strong as his, but it was no flap around. A good and strong handshake was always a good sign in his book.

When she released, she gestured to the back office. "Come this way, please. In my office we can discuss these matters privately," and with that, she led the way to her office.

Thomas noticed that there were about five offices beyond the doorway, plus a break room, and a large wooden closet.

When they entered Isabell's office, something in the corner of her desk caught his eye. It was a photo. In it was Isabell, plus a tall man who had a toddler riding his shoulders. Her family, he assumed. She looked younger in the photo, slimmer, he wondered how old it was.

"Please, take a seat," she gestured to the seats before her and he noticed one specific one was larger and stronger than the rest. No doubt wheeled in just for him. He chose to sit there, not wanting a repeat of the hospital accident. "From what Emma told me, you have a daughter?"

"Alice, and yes, if I can get this all official," he nodded.

She pulled out a file from a stack on her desk. "You must have made quite an impression on Emma, she usually doesn't send files as early in advance as she did with yours."

Thomas gave a small laugh. "I _may_ have thanked her a few dozen times, and told her I'd punch anyone in the face if she needed a hero?"

That got a laugh from Isabell.

She pulled forth some papers and began to page through them, giving herself a quick refresher. "The good news is that you've got a great background and hit all the milestones that they look for in prospective adoptive parents, you also completed all the required training courses and even the optional ones," she listed. "At this point, my job is just to help you make it through all the paperwork that needs to get done and represent you in case the courts want to fight you on this, though I doubt they will."

Isabell looked up at him, "File says she was in the hospital due to a violent crime incident? I'd recommend a follow-up appointment and submitting the updated health records as well. Nothing too invasive, but a check up and seal of approval from a medical professional can go a long way with a judge." She looked back at the papers. "We also need to run a fresh credit report on you and fill out some family paperwork. Are you following me?"

Thomas looked at her. "Uh…"

She smiled sympathetically. "I know it's a lot, don't worry," she waved her hand and some pen and paper floated towards her. Telekinesis from the looks of it. "I'll get the basics down for you and you'll just have to bring some records and reports to me. I can also get some things signed over and taken care of on my end, save you some work."

The hero sighed in relief, "That would help greatly."

For the next hour, they went over some of the needed paperwork. Some of it was easy; re-filling for a credit report and setting up an appointment for Alice with her doctor. While others were a bit more complicated and left his head spinning.

At the end, Isabell gave her rough estimate of a month to complete the case file and another to get it to a judge and approved. And that was the fast path because Hercules name moved mountains.

As Thomas stood to take his leave, his phone buzzed and he brought it out without thinking. Adriel had sent him a photo that had his expression soften. Alice was clonked out on the couch, curled up in a pale blue blanket and snuggling against Santa. There was a follow-up text about how she'd wore herself out after marathoning Disney movies on Netflix.

"Is that Alice? She's adorable," Isabell said, having taken a sneak peek at his phone. .

Thomas chuckled as he saved the photo, adding it to one of the dozens of pictures he had of Alice on his phone. "I know, thank you," he said as he slipped his phone back in his pocket. "I'm sure your own son is just as cute, how old is he now?" Thomas asked, nodding to the photo. If he was around Alice's age, perhaps the two could meet. It never hurt to introduce her to more potential friends.

The smile fell from Isabell's face and she looked away, her expression that of grief. "He would have been fifteen."

Would have? What a strange way to put—oh… _Oh…_

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know, that was insensitive of me." He paused, knowing he shouldn't but asked anyway. "What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

Isabell waved it off, smiling, but it was forced. "It's fine, you wouldn't have known. It's been long enough that I can talk about it," she said and hesitated. "His name's Hunter, he was born quirkless and didn't take it all that well. You know how people treat those without quirks, like they're somehow lesser, or a waste of space and resources. It's cruel, but it's the kind of society that our kids are raised in. He'd always dreamed of being a hero, you know? But, without a quirk…"

It was impossible to be a hero if you didn't have a quirk, Thomas knew that well. Not only was it virtually impossible to even pass the hero license exam without a quirk, so most quirkless individuals would have to turn to vigilantism if they wanted to be a hero, and even then that would be illegal. For those that did by some miracle get a license, they'd be more a liability than an asset out in the field, and as harsh as it was to say, without a quirk, you'd just be in the way. There was a high risk when it came to being a hero, even for those with quirks, and if you didn't have a quirk, that risk was even greater, not only for yourself but it put a new risk on those you worked with and civilians on the sidelines.

The lawyer sighed, bringing a hand to her cheek, he suspected she was trying not to show how much it still hurt.

"He got bullied a bit too, a lot, actually. You know how kids can be cruel at times, they're young and don't know any better but they can still say some of the cruelest things, and being the only one in your class who doesn't have a quirk; you're a prime target." She shook her head, "He ran away when he was eight, no trace of him could be found anywhere. Police stopped looking long ago, heroes too. I'm not an idiot, I know it's unlikely he's even still alive, but without a body they can't pronounce him dead. It hurts more knowing that there is a slim chance he could still be alive."

Before there was a chance for Thomas to say anything, to offer any comfort or condolence, Isabell forced another smile. "My best friend? Her son is a first year at Garricks now, he grew up with Hunter, they'd been childhood friends and even though he was sometimes the one who bullied Hunter the most, he was only trying to keep him safe in his own way. I think he's trying to be the kind of hero Hunter wanted to be, to fulfill my sons dream for him," she said with a gentle smile and taking another breath. "I went into becoming a family lawyer when Hunter ran away, so I could at least help other kids after failing my own. Hunter had always been a kind boy, I know he would be happy to know I'm trying to help others."

"It's admirable of you to channel your pain of loss to helping others," Thomas commended. "What you are doing is good. There aren't many people who care so much like you."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry for just gushing all of that out to you, it really wasn't all that appropriate," Isabell said and her smile seemed to be more embarassed than anything.

Thomas gave a laugh, shaking his head to assure her that there was no harm done. "It's better to let that sort of thing out now and then rather than let it fester, I'm glad that I was able to be an ear for you to talk about that too."

And now Isabell smiled again and it looked more genuine before ushering towards the door, her expression going back to that 'business mode' one that she had been wearing earlier. "Well, moving on. You can schedule a follow-up appointment with my secretary on the way out, Mr. Hercules."

"Thomas Hendrickson."

She blinked. "Hm?"

Thomas smiled, "If this is all going on the record, you should know my full name is Thomas Hendrickson."

Isabell nodded, "Well, Mr. Hendrickson, instructions are still the same. I know how you try to keep your identity a secret from the media, so know that we try to keep the upmost discreetness here, so we will keep it all out of the media until you're ready."

"Thank you, that means a lot."

Isabell's smile grew fierce, "And, if anyone here _does_ spill the beans, well, you might need to save them from me." she cracked her knuckles to show that she meant business, "I take my Client Confidentiality rather seriously here."

And Thomas couldn't help it, he let out a loud laugh at the small woman's claim, unable to see her as a threat to anyone but able to tell that she would dish out some fierce punishment if someone started gossiping about client information. "I will hold you to it," he extended a hand. "Until next time?"

She shook it. "Until next time."


	6. 6th Life Villains Don't Do Teamwork

"Fear not, citizens!"

Hercules burst into the lecture hall just as the hero-slash-teacher Zero finished introducing him. The tall lanky pro hero and head teacher for the hero courses looked completely dead inside as he stared at Hercules's entrance, unkempt black hair obscuring most of his face as he moved to sit off to the side and give Hercules the stage. He looked more pasty then Thomas remembered, maybe he should see if the man is doing okay later.

As he looked around the huge lecture hall Thomas fondly remembered taking his own written test in the first time he stepped onto campus, he watched as the eyes of the entire first year class of Garrick Academy fell on him. Claps abounded as the young students rose and cheered to see the hero in all his glory.

Thomas smiled back as he took them all in, and let his eyes linger on a little girl in the front row, waving energetically at her father as a white teddy bear sat on the desk in front of her.

Friday had come and now Thomas was about to give his speech on hero tactics in major disaster situations to the newest batch of heroes in training. He'd handled a number of various situations in his lifetime ranging from all sorts of heroic work, but disasters seemed to be the ones that people had most questions on. Or rather, the most misconceptions on how it worked, and he has a presentation all whipped up and ready for today.

Alice coming along was a treat for the girl who had spent the time between finding out about the visit and the car ride over to the academy to learn everything she could about the school.

Everything.

"Did you know that the pro hero Wukong broke down the wall separating Classroom 4-A and 4-B during his final year because he got so scared during a Halloween party?"

"Did you know that the academy currently has five practice cities spanning six city-blocks in each direction for training, and has one more under construction?"

"I bet you didn't know Garricks founder, Alexander Garrick, a first generation quirk user, had the power to manipulate metal and had helped construct the academy for the second generation of super-powered students."

"Do you know what Zero's quirk is? There's lots of rumors of what it might be, but no one knows. Do you think it's something like his brothers?"

"Guess what! Headmaster Mirren has an IQ of over 200 and has published seven academic papers spanning from hero society to civil rights!"

…Thomas had to admit that, even for as long as he had known Gabriel Mirren, he hadn't known about the papers. He just knew the former hero Reaper was insanely smart and a huge asset in battle. Maybe he should check out the papers when he had the time, they seemed interesting. Probably very thorough and enlightening knowing his colleague.

And the child had been beyond excited to come, it was her first time inside a hero academy, and not only that but it was where both Adriel and Katherine worked which made it even better for her. She was excited to see the workplace of her two babysitters, and Hercules was hoping to let her visit them both if they weren't too busy.

But he shook that memory and thought out of his head and began his presentation with a clip of a rescue mission a few years back in Germany following a massive earthquake. It was one of his previous overseas trips and it also served to show the students some professional heroes from different nations. He felt it was important to understand how hero society worked in different cultures.

The presentation had taken a good forty-five minutes and the remaining fifteen Hercules had left for his question and answers session.

Most of the students were pretty good about sticking to the actual topic at hand, but there had been a few curious teenagers who strayed to ask a few more personal or ridiculous things. He grinned a little when a scrawny looking kid asked him how well he did on the tests when he was a student at the academy and made a joke about being more brawns than brains.

Another student, a spiky blonde with black highlights had asked about heroes how who didn't have quirks useful in combative situations could help, which Hercules had to assure the student that heroes don't always fight villains. Search and rescues, support, there were countless positions that didn't require them to be on the front line.

He was almost done and about to wrap it all up when a small hand caught his attention. His eyebrows quirked even as his smile increased. "Yes, Alice?"

Mutters of confusion filled the room and eyes turned to the little girl at the front. It was likely that most hadn't even noticed her until this point, but, in her blue shirt and jeans rather than a school uniform, along with her obvious age, it was clear she wasn't a student.

Alice lowered her hand, fingers tapping against the wood of the desk. "Hi! Yeah, I was wondering how come it took so long for the rubble to be clear?" she asked, gesturing to the collapsed apartment complex that had occurred following a small earthquake. "There were a lot of people trapped down there and they could have been hurt. The hero—the one with that fire quirk?—he was just standing around for most of the time!" she waved her little hand at the screen, gesturing to the German hero who had been on scene with Hercules at the time.

Murmurs filled the room about _Who does this kid think she is? Who's she to complain, there's obviously a reason he wasn't doing anything. What a stupid question!_ And hearing them, Alice shrunk back a little, face turning pink with embarrassment.

Thomas, however, smiled larger if at all possible. "A wonderful question, how about we turn it on to the class?" he looked to the students, it'd be a good learning exercise for them, and by the expression Zero was making off to the side, he felt like the teacher agreed, "Anyone want to answer my daughter's question? There is a real answer."

Silence fell. Hercules's words reverberated off the walls. Everyone took in what he said, ' _my_ daughter'. He felt a swell of pride at the looks on the students faces as they stared at him and looked to the child.

The students were either too shocked about the daughter comment to think or just outright had no idea what the answer might be. There were a few flustered looks from those who had whispered complaints about her question.

Finally, a hand shot up. Hercules pointed to the student. "Yes! You in the back. You're name…?"

A girl with hair dyed a pastel pink and tied back stood up, eyes fierce but smile kind.

"Shiho Amano, sir," she introduced, and Thomas allowed himself a brief moment to wonder if she was one of the exchange students. "And Alice has a point. Speed is key when trying to save as many people possible. But in this situation; more harm than good would have come if the wrong quirk was used. Too much physical force and the entire building could collapse, and Vulcan, well, his quirk is as forceful as they come with his intense fire blasts. While no doubt a powerful quirk to have in a fight, it would have been dangerous to use here. Honestly, he was probably the most ill-suited hero on the scene, but he gets points for still being there and trying to help even though his quirk made him more a risk."

A few students murmured as she said that, several looking over at her as the girl spoke. Not bothered by the numerous eyes on her, Shiho continued, "Had he recklessly used his flames, what little support the building had left could be destroyed, making the building crumble and kill those inside—if the heat from the flames didn't burn them alive first."

"Thank you for that, Miss Amano," Hercules nodded as the girl sat back down, the red-head beside her whispering something and playfully shoving her shoulder. "She's right. With the quirks we had at the scene, the situation could have become disastrous if we weren't careful or if we tried to rush. So it was necessary to do things the old fashioned way; one brick at a time."

His eyes lingered on Alice, a spark of an idea forming in his mind.

"In fact, if we had a quirk that could slip into the building without disrupting the support the building had, and even offer structural support from inside, it would have minimized the chances of a structural collapse," Thomas said in an offhanded tone, knowing full well what sort of quirk he was referring to, and he hoped Alice caught his meaning, too. "And perhaps if something could slip in to locate all the civilians trapped inside while we try to get in, we could have sped up the process by knowing where to look and what paths to take."

With a quirk like Alice's, manifesting shadows that could slip between cracks without harm so long as it stayed in the darkness, it'd be a tremendous asset to disaster relief. In fact, her quirk would be perfect for rescue work if she ever chose to become a hero and didn't want to be on the combative side of things.

The words sunk in as Alice flopped back into her seat, staring at her hand and then at her shadow. The little girl looked back up at Thomas, smiling so bright she could have lit the world.

"Also, Vulcan doesn't like to do things the old fashioned way, doesn't like chipping his nails and all that," Hercules added in a false hush and the room erupted into laughter, knowing the hero was cracking a joke. He even waved his fingers around. "Doesn't want to ruin his fresh manicure."

It wrapped up from. A few people threw in some more questions and then there were some who wanted autographs and pictures, which Hercules was glad to give. Zero came up and gave a short closing speech with a tired thanks to Thomas and a message to the students to keep in mind what the hero had discussed with them and how it would be crucial in their careers later on. A few students threw in some more questions before they left the room and then there were some who wanted autographs and pictures, which Hercules was glad to give.

When he was done, he collected Alice and perched the girl on his shoulder.

"That was a marvelous question, my girl!" Thomas praised. "I think some of these students forget that a powerful quirk isn't going to solve everything, and your question was just the sort of thing they needed to remember that."

Alice smiled back. "But, I mean, if I was there, and if I had more control over the shadows…"

"Oh, my sweet girl, you would have been amazing if you were there! Although, you're still a bit young for the heroics."

"Gotta get your licenses first, right Hercules?" The pink haired student from earlier cut in as she approached the two, a lax stride in her walk as she pushed some strands of hair behind her ear.

"Indeed. Amano, was it?" Hercules asked, earning something of a nod in response. "Thank you again for your answer to the question in there. I was starting to worry that your year had forgotten some of the basics to hero and rescue work."

Shiho smiled back at him, laughing a little, "I don't know, a lot of them seem to think heroics focuses only of fighting and forget that there is more to it than a fight," she said with a lazy shrug. "Each situation is going to be different, and sometimes you have to acknowledge that you might not be the hero most suitable for what's going on."

As she said that, the girl patted her arm, and Thomas could see the muscles built up there, "Like you, I've got a strength-type quirk myself. Sevenfold Retribution to be precise, and I've found myself in more spots than I want to admit where brute strength just doesn't cut it,"

Hercules gave a hum, "I completely understand. Superhuman strength doesn't necessarily mean it is an unstoppable quirk that can do anything and everything, just like any other quirk, it has its weaknesses." Muscle damage was the most prominent, but also causing severe, unintentional injuries or damages to others was up high on that list of downfalls, too. "But you seem like a bright girl, so I'm sure you've always figured out another way?"

Her smile grew, "Most of the time. I'm good at thinking on my feet and I know I can rely on my friends and teammates when that happens. I may not be able to do it on my own, but that's why it's best not to try and handle everything yourself. You know?"

What a smart girl, she was only a first year but she seemed to understand crucial details that he felt many first years, some third year students, and even the pros themselves tended to forget. That teamwork was important. Hercules could tell that she was going to make a fine hero.

"And that, my girls," he said referring to the student in front of him and the girl on his shoulders, "is what makes a hero. Not just the quirk you have, but the ability to think things through and rely on your comrades. Working in a team is important and gives us an advantage in the fight, it's the biggest thing I've noticed when it comes to villains, too. Most villains prefer to do things on their own rather than forging alliances, and those that do, the unity is fragile at best. They aren't big on teamwork."

There were a few exceptions to that rule where villains teamed up in a rather dangerous group, he knew that much. Organized crime was still a thing, after all. But, in his experience there were very few genuinely threatening villain alliances that didn't disperse after their one job together.

Alice bounced excitedly on Thomas' shoulders, "Heroes are so much more interesting than I thought they'd be," she said, and even though he couldn't see it, he was sure that she was smiling that wide smile of hers. Her attention turned back to the first year student though and she leaned forward on Thomas. "You said your name is 'Shiho Amano', right? Does that mean you're from Japan? You're Japanese?"

That may not be the most polite thing to ask someone you just met, but Shiho didn't mind. And Thomas realized that this must be the first time she's been in contact with anyone who may even resemble the Yamazaki family in months, even if it was just the possibility of a shared ethnicity. He wondered if that was why Alice was interested in the pink haired hero-in-training or if it was just because of how nice the girl seemed to be.

Regardless of what the intentions may be, Shiho just laughed at the question, "Only half—on my dad's side, my mom's American," she answered with a soft smile. "I haven't been to Japan since I was a kid, younger than you in fact. I moved to America with my parents before I'd even developed my quirk. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that, I," Alice was either too embarrassed or too excited to really figure out what she wanted to say, her fingers gripping Thomas carefully to keep her balance. Then, what she said next wasn't something he understood at all, but the words felt rough, a clear sign that she wasn't perfect at the language, but knew enough to get by.

While Thomas didn't know what she said, Shiho clearly did. Her eyes seemed to widen in interest which turned to amusement, responding to the child in the very same language.

It dawned on him only a few words in that the two were now having a full blown conversation in Japanese and that Thomas had no idea what they were even talking about. He should have known that Alice would be to some degree fluent in the language, but it still caught him by surprise listening to the two talk. She stumbled over her words a few times, and was probably butchering some words, though Shiho didn't seem to mind if that was the case.

The two seemed to be enjoying themselves, though, and he figured that was what mattered, and it was clear that Shiho was greatly enjoying the conversation, he wondered if it was because of what they were talking about, or just that she was happy to be speaking her first language with someone.

They must have been standing in the halls for a good few minutes before the conversation between the girls came to an end by the approach of a few other students.

"Oi! Shiho! We got algebra up next and if you don't hurry it up over there, we're going to be late!" yelled the red haired girl who Thomas had noticed sitting beside Shiho during the guest lecture. Beside her was a lanky looking boy with pasty skin and a mess of brown hair, and a mean looking blonde who—oh wasn't that the boy who asked about non-combative quirks?

Shiho sighed but didn't look annoyed at all, "Yeah, yeah. Relax, Kiera, I'm coming," Shiho yelled over to them and then smiled back at Hercules and Alice. "Thank you for the talk, I look forward to working with you as a fellow hero in the future," she said and then turned to the girl on his shoulders, "and you better behave, got it? Don't forget about what I said."

With that, Shiho rejoined her friends and the group departed down the hall, with Thomas heading the opposite way with Alice.

"So, what did you two talk about?" he asked as he nodded to a couple of teachers they passed.

But instead of answering, Alice just giggled and shook her head. "Secret!" and that seemed to be it, so Thomas just smiled. Probably girl talk, or as much 'girl talk' one can have with a seven-year-old. But Alice seemed to be in a good mood, practically vibrating on his shoulder, "Where to next, dad?"

"Well, I was thinking we'd stop by the nurses office to visit Adriel, as I'm sure you want to see what his workplace is like, and then we can get some lunch, then…" Thomas stopped talking as he craned his neck to look over, eyes wide. "Alice, did you call me… dad?"

Her eyes widened, "I… uh… I mean, if we're making it official… I can call you that… right?"

Alice's world flipped as she was picked up and thrown into the air, caught, and then spun around by a thrilled Thomas. "Oh, my dear girl, of course you can!" he swore his eyes were getting misty. "I don't know how to express how happy I am to hear you call me that."

She didn't say anything but smiled as Hercules hugged her and placed her back on his shoulder, talking avidly about the plans, and walking with such a giddy step that he seemed more like the child. She held on to him with her one arm, smiling the whole time.

Dad.

Alice smiled as she thought of it. Before Thomas, the only person she had that she had ever even considered to be a father figure had always been Mr. Crow, and even now, she still thought of the man as a father, and not just as a father, but as a friend and teacher. But, Thomas felt like a father, too.

Dad. She'd never gotten to call Mr. Crow that before, even though that's what she had thought of him as. It was one of those unsaid things that she wasn't supposed to do. But Thomas was okay with her calling him dad.

And yet, the term didn't feel right. It felt like there was something awful attached to the term 'dad', like something she didn't want. She felt shadows creeping up her body, under her clothes, holding her tight, painfully tight, as though ready to tear her from this dream.

Eventually they moved on, stopping by Adriels office on the first floor. The other two nurses gushed over seeing Alice a little, and Adriel seemed appreciative of being pulled away from the students hovering over him like a celebrity. He even snuck her some candy when Thomas wasn't looking, asking how the presentation went and complimenting Alice on not causing any problems.

They only got to talk for a few minutes before a second year student wobbled into the room with his arm at an awkward angle and the two went on their way to let Adriel work.

Their next stop was Katherines homeroom class over in the Tech Course, the students of which were busy on their projects, allowing Katherine the joy of coddling and doting over Alice in her own way, which earned a few glances from the busy students, whom she snapped at to get back to work, switching quickly after back to the affectionate 'mom-like' figure that Alice was used to.

A few students stopped to say hi to them and even showed off their quirks to Alice, and Alice even got to watch one of the Hero classes out practicing and training with Zero while she and Thomas ate lunch.

It was so cool seeing them all in action, all the different quirks and different. This was so different compared to what she went through with Mr. Crow. No one was as happy or as carefree. They didn't have the same passion she saw in the students.

Maybe… maybe she could be a hero, too? No. That would be too much. There's no way she could ever be a hero. Didn't matter what Thomas might have said about her quirk being useful and being suitable for hero work or for rescue work.

She could never be a hero.

* * *

Cain crossed one leg over the other as he sat on the stool, one elbow resting on the cool wooden counter as he laid his scarred cheek in his palm. In the dim light of the dingy bar, the air was thick with the stench of alcohol, sweat and blood.

On the other side of the bar counter, Alfonse—the owner of the bar and legal landlord of the apartments above it in the building that served as one of their bases, as well as Cain's second-in-command—was cleaning some glasses. The former hero didn't say a single word as he went from glass to glass, but his golden eyes were locked on their uninvited guests.

How had they even found the hole in the wall bar that had been hidden away, unnoticed by most. He knew that it wasn't the most original villains hideout, but it was hardly their only one and it was the one 'lair' that was easiest for members to get to. But more important and moving back on track, Cain had to wonder how these people not only knew to come to this bar, but knew that Abyss would be here?

Those were the questions plaguing Cains mind right now and he was sure that concern was shared by the other members who were spread out across the bar in conveniently advantageous points in case a fight broke out.

Summer, an early-thirties woman was leaned against the wall by the back door which led to the stairs to the apartments, arms crossed, looking irritated and ready for a fight. At one of the tables Zack, a guy roughly the same age as Cain, leaned back in a chair, his feet kicked up on the table. Were there not guests at the moment, Alfonse would have scolded him by now for putting his feet on the table. He was playing with the lighter in his hand, watching lazily as the color shifted from a clear orange to a bright white and finally into a sharp blue as the flames grew hotter and hotter, only to fade back to orange before flipping the lid in the zippo and then pushing the lid off and repeating the cycle.

At another table was Anne, who was idly playing with the pocket knife Cain had recently gotten her so she'd stop using the kitchen knives when she stabbed people. For the simple reason that they _used_ those knives to prepare food and she had a tendency not to properly wash them afterwards, and no one wanted to use blood stained knives for food prep. Her smile was as innocent and playful as ever, like she didn't have a care in the world, but her eyes were dangerously narrowed at the outsiders who had entered their domain, a silent threat that she was ready to and would happily slice them to pieces if needed.

There weren't too many people on his side at the moment, especially compared to their guests, but this was hardly the entirety of Abyss. The ones here now were a few of the core members, the ones who lived in the apartments, who were always here unless there was a job to do. Some of the most dangerous unknown villains out there who had joined the ranks of his group, powerful quirk users that weren't even registered anywhere. Even with the numbers not in his favor, Cain had complete faith that if a fight broke out, his teammates here could easily win.

He didn't let his expression change as who he could only assume to be the leader of the intruders walked towards him. He was a man wearing a mask that obscured his face, something like a steampunk bird mask but Cain noticed the dark hair sticking out from between the mask and the hood of his jacket. It was probably to keep his identity a secret from Abyss. Not a bad idea, who could say that Cain might not have him shanked in the middle of the street if he knew his face. Though the mask reminded him of that 'Eight Precepts of Death' group, what was it the Shie Hassaikai? Though the mask didn't seem exact, either. Didn't that group use plague masks? He might have to brush up a little on his information later.

Cain let a few moments pass, staring at the man before he raised his arms out in a sort of greeting. "Well, well, congrats on stumbling upon an Abyss hideout. What do we owe this visit?" he asked his voice, rough, raspy and gravely, like he'd swallowed a cup full of gravel, but his tone was mocking at the intruders. He wasn't afraid of them and he wanted them to know.

The man in the mask took another step forward, "I am hoping that we can forge a bit of an alliance," he said, his voice was somewhat soothing and calm. It annoyed Cain. "As I understand, Abyss has yet to make a name for itself, heroes don't even know of your existence—"

"Which is intended. There's a thing call an 'advantage' and our crimes not being linked to us so far is giving us that," Summer cut in from her spot on the wall. Cain raised a hand to quiet the older woman and she did, reluctantly, and glared at the 'guests'.

She was right, though. Cain had gone through painful lengths to ensure that the name Abyss remained anonymous. He didn't want the public to know of them too early. When they made themselves known, it was going to be with a bang, it was going to cause a panic, fear, and confusion. He wasn't going to let the organization reveal itself until the right moment. For the time being, the small time crimes they did were just to stir up trouble, the real fun hadn't even begun yet.

"Be that as it may be. You do have an end goal, an ideology that you're following—some kind of social reform, correct?" The man continued. Social reform? Cain scoffed, that was a very vague summary of their intention while leaving out the crucial details and reasons. But sure, just call it a 'social reform'. "You want heroes gone, and so do I. And right now, a hero is in possession of something very important to me."

Cain sighed and got up from the chair, sauntering over to the man. Even though the other was probably a good few years older than Cain, they were roughly the same height. His red eyes, hidden behind the mess of pale blue hair, remained locked on the mask as he got closer and closer until only an inch or two remained between him and the masked man. "I'm not a patient man, ask any one of the people in this room," he gestured to the Abyss members behind him. "So, get to the point."

"Right now the hero Hercules has in his care a girl named Alice. She belongs to me. She possesses a very powerful and dangerous quirk that can be used to our benefit. His acquisition of her has posed a problem for my group and our own plans, and the longer she is in his care, the more danger she is in," the masked man said. "I'm sure you know how persuasive heroes can be with their propaganda and brainwashing. I'd hate to see her manipulated into believing their lies."

Cain wasn't impressed, "Let me guess, you want to hire Abyss to kill Hercules and get this brat back for you?" he asked and didn't give the man time to answer. "Trust me, if I get the chance to kill the man, I'll take it. But why should I go out of my way, throw away years of planning, for you just to get some little kid back?"

The amount of calmness the masked man emitted would have unnerved most men, but Cain wasn't most men. He didn't flinch at the amused laugh or the way the glass eyes seemed to stare into his soul—or lack of in his case—he just stared him down.

"No, where she is now, though she may not know it, is very important. I never intended for her to end up in a pro hero's care, but this ended up being the perfect accident," the masked man said and Cain was sure he'd be smiling under his mask. Hadn't he just been saying how bad it was that she was with the hulking giant? "What I want is for Abyss to provide me a chance to make contact with the girl again. I've let her know that I'm still watching her, but I need to come into direct contact, I need an opportunity to remind her of who her family is and who she belongs to. To make sure she doesn't fall prey to the heroes lies and tricks. More than that, I have a job only she can complete now."

Cain let that sink in.

So, he meant to use this child as some kind of weapon against Hercules if he understood his plan. Perhaps use her to assassinate the hero in the middle of the night, or to provide intel that could cripple the hero. If this girl was in the America's Number One hero's care, then that was a golden opportunity for this masked man.

"What's in it for us?" Cain asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

There was a soft laugh and the man didn't back off even with how close Cain was, or how easily Cain could kill him right here and right now. He wasn't afraid. Cain had to respect him for that much. This absence of fear didn't come from stupidity, but from experience.

"Of course I don't expect you to do this for free," the man answered. "Whatever you need, weapons, equipment, any resources you want I can supply you with."

Still, Cain was unimpressed. Everything about this man seemed untrustworthy, he seemed the kind of man who would ditch his men under a bus to save his own skin, who didn't know the first thing about loyalty. "And why should I trust you? What do I have that can be a guarantee that you're not just all talk? I don't even know who you are."

It was hard to gauge what this man was thinking, with his face hidden behind that obnoxious mask.

But the man reached into his coat and pulled out a simple business card, which he held out to Cain.

"My name is Chihiro Yamazaki, Patriarch of the Yamazaki family," the masked man answered, "and you can trust that whatever you need, my family can acquire and bring to you."

The Yamazaki family? Now, this was interesting. Of course he knew the name, most people in the crime world that paid any bit of attention knew that name, they were one of the few surviving Yakuza clans out in Japan after the rise of heroes wiped out most of the criminal organizations like that. They weren't big enough, or flashy enough that everyone knew of them, but they were some smallfry either. Cain found himself smiling as he read the card, not even bothering to acknowledge the way some of the Yakuza men flinched at the sight, while his own comrades remained unfazed at the twisted expression. He toyed with the card between his fingers and looked back up at the masked man—at Yamazaki.

"Well, I suppose we have ourselves a deal."

Of course this didn't mean he was going to derail from the plan he already had laid out. He just had to tweak it a little to involve the Yamazaki Yakuza family and the little brat this man wanted. It would take time. But it wasn't impossible. And this might even be more fun.

He could always kidnap the kid, but that wouldn't be as enjoyable. What they needed was for this girl, who was probably already brainwashed by the toxic hero society, to feel cornered, pressured. They needed a way to remind this brat where she came from and where she would return to.

His smile grew wider and he found himself laughing, a raspy, vile laugh that send shudders through the Yakuza ranks. It was an unnatural sound he'd been told. "I think this will be a wonderful partnership, we'll be in touch, Chihiro, you can count on that," he said looking at the Yakuza boss with his twisted smile that fueled nightmares. "Do you need a lift home? I'm sure Alfonse wouldn't mind providing you with a ride."

"I appreciate the gesture, but we'll pass on that," Yamazaki said, bowing slightly. Good, he wasn't blindly trusting. It wouldn't be hard to use that offer to get rid of them easily. The man turned and said something to his men in their own language and one by one the group filtered out of the bar.

Before long they were gone, leaving only Abyss in the shabby old bar with the dim lighting and alcohol stench.

"Sure this is a good idea, boss?" Zack asked as he closed his lighter and stuffed it in his leather jackets pocket, his expression sour. "I don't trust them, they give off a real bad vibe."

Summer scratched the back of her head, "They're Yakuza. I don't trust Yakuza, they like to think they're better than others just because they have tradition and all that bullshit," the older woman grumbled as she pushed herself off from the wall, "Because tradition and tattoos make you top dog or something. Ugh, just thinking about it pisses me off, and it bugs me even more that they want to use some little kid or some shit."

"We're not any better, you know," Anne giggled as she tried balancing the knife on one finger, "we'd use that kid without hesitation if we thought she was useful. We've done worse, too."

She had a point. None of them were clean, each one of them had done something terrible, unforgivable even. There wasn't a single member in their organization that had the right to complain about the crimes of another, and Cain had made sure that every member knew that not a single one of them was better than the other. Society was going to look at them all as the scum of the earth, what right did they have to judge others?

Even so, the concerns they raised were valid, but Cain was not deterred. He smiled and shrugged off their complaints as he fished a phone out of his pocket. "Doesn't matter if we trust them or not. Right now, they're giving us an advantage and we'll squeeze them for all their worth," he told them easily, chuckling a little as he scrolled through his contacts. "After all, using people is a talent in and of itself, being able to manipulate and use others is more valuable than what kind of quirk you have. I suggest you all learn how to do it if you want a sharper edge in conflicts."

The others didn't respond, leaving it at that as Cain found the right contact and tapped on it.

He waited patiently as he listened to the phone ringing on the other end before after a few long rings it was answered and a familiar, cheerful voice greeted him on the other end. His smile grew, the scarred tissue over his face making the expression even more discomforting. Yamazaki wanted an opportunity to confront this Alice kid, right? Well, he had the perfect little tool to provide just the right sort of opportunity without causing any problems to Abyss' current plans.

"I have a job for you, I hope you're ready."

* * *

 **Authors Note**

We finally get to be introduced to the rest of the main cast, only took six chapters. From the villains, some of the main heroes, and the elusive 'Mr. Crow' we got a whole bunch of new characters introduced today.


	7. 7th Life Memory Lane

Katherine smiled warmly as she lounged on the couch, watching as Alice hunched over on the floor while coloring in a book she had bought from the store the other day for the kid. In her hands was a warm cup of coffee that Adriel had made for her while the nurse himself sat in the chair. Thomas was out doing his job and so the two teachers were here watching his soon-to-be-daughter.

She didn't _have_ to be there that day, Adriel was already scheduled to be the babysitter for the day, but she hadn't had anything else to do. All her students papers were graded, her lesson plan was finished, all her work to prepare for tomorrow was done. So what better way than to just crash at her neighbors house and spend the time with such a wonderful child.

If she could get away with it without any repercussions, Kat would have stolen Alice and adopted her herself if she could.

But, alas, child abduction was illegal and she didn't want to be the one who got on Thomas' shit list for stealing his child, so the pro hero Dream Eater would settle with just being the honorary aunt.

Plus, it was always a bonus to spend time with Adriel. She didn't get much time at the academy to just talk with him, and he rarely joined the drinking sessions she and some of her other coworkers invited him to.

"How have the students in the tech course been?" Adriel asked as he took a sip of his coffee, his gaze fixed on the book he was reading. "I don't have them coming for medical treatment nearly as often as the hero course, save for cuts and burns received while working."

Katherine placed a hand on her cheek and gave a dramatic sigh, "Well they always make me feel old, like I'm losing that charm of mine that had guys falling to their knees to do what I asked." There had been a time when whenever she walked into a room the men, and even the young students, would just stare at her. But ever since she got assigned homeroom to this years tech class, she rarely got any sort of rise from the students. In fact, they enjoyed giving her a hard time. "It's like they enjoy getting under my skin."

"That's students for you," Adriel nodded, "they live to make our lives that much harder."

"That's for sure," Katherine agreed and smiled as she watched Alice's shadows drag over a few crayons that had rolled away from her. It was so nice to see her gaining control, bit by bit, over her quirk. "Save for Alice, of course. She is such a good student, I can't wait to be her teacher at Garricks."

Adriel gave a snort from where he seated and Alice glanced up at them, not showing any sign that she knew what they were talking about, before shrugging and going back to her drawing. "That's assuming she even wants to attend Garricks. They're not the only hero academy in the country, and she might not even want to be a hero," the man pointed out.

The woman pouted as she held her mug of coffee, "What kid doesn't want to be a hero?"

"Most kids do, but they grow out of it as they grow up," Adriel stated. "Especially those who live surrounded by heroes, she'll see past the glamor of the job and see it for what it really is; dangerous and deadly. No one can blame anyone for not wanting that responsibility."

He had a point. Hero work was one of the most dangerous kinds of jobs out there. Heroes were constantly putting their lives on the line, and the effort and work to become a hero was insane. She really couldn't hold it against Alice, or anyone for that matter, if they didn't want to become a hero. It'd be nice if she could see Alice become a hero, because she was certain the girl could become one of the best; she had an amazing and strong quirk and such a kind heart, but if Alice decided that being a hero wasn't for her, then Katherine would accept that.

There wasn't much she could do to oppose it, it wasn't like she was the girl's mother or anything, she knew that.

But, Katherine thought of Alice as her own child. She wanted to be there for the girl, help care for her, raise her and protect her like a mother would. Wanted to help protect the soft smiles and kind heart.

"You're making a gross face," Adriel said, cutting into her thoughts, glancing over his book to look at her, "you're thinking of something weird again, aren't you?"

Huffing, Katherine turned so she wasn't facing him, "Rude! You can't just say that to a woman," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest, "Really, with that attitude, it's no wonder you haven't been able to get a date or a girlfriend."

"Assuming I even want to be involved in any of that drama."

They bantered back and forth like that for a few minutes and it must have caught Alice's attention because she stopped coloring to just watch them, a curious if not confused expression on her face, but not saying anything to interrupt them.

Man, she and Adriel must have looked like an old couple to her with their little quarrels. Hopefully Alice didn't get any funny ideas about the two of them. "Kind of feels like we're a second set of parents to her," Katherine said, stretching her arms high above. "I'm the mommy, you're the spare daddy."

Adriel snorted, "The _spare_?"

"Well, yeah, Thomas is clearly the primary daddy," she said and then gave a wry smirk, "in more ways than one, or so says the internet."

Adriel grimaced, shaking his head, "That whole 'daddy' fetishization is just so weird if you ask me," he muttered, and Katherine laughed a little at his expression of clear discontent. "If a girl I'm with starts calling me 'daddy' while we're sleeping together, I'm out of there. I'm not going to be an outlet for some girls daddy issues."

"Oh come on, you're assuming that every girl has to have daddy issues for that."

"I'm saying every girl has daddy issues if they're doing that."

Katherine laughed as the doctor grumbled a little more, they got a few more weird glances from Alice who probably didn't understand what they were talking about. It was for the best that she didn't know.

"Speaking of America's 'favorite daddy'," Katherine grinned as Adriel made a gagging expression, "how'd that favor you wanted from him go?"

Adriel shrugged, picking back up his book and flipping a page.

"It went well, he seemed pretty okay with mentoring one of the first years," he said, eyes roving over the page of his story. He had asked Thomas the other day if he would be willing to do someone on one mentoring for one of the freshmen at the academy. The student kept breaking bones and tearing muscles every because of a strength augmenting quirk. Since Thomas was the hero when it came to strength quirks in America, Adriel thought he might be able to offer some pointers.

So long as Adriel wasn't having to repair bones and muscles every day on the same student, he'd be happy.

"That's good. I'm thinking of making a… not so much a favor, but a suggestion to him myself," Katherine said glancing up at the ceiling, "I want to maybe enroll Alice into the Junior Heroes Program. Thought it might be good for her, and fun, too."

Adriel perked up at that, "I can see it being helpful in learning appropriate quirk usage," not to mention how to be a decent citizen, which this country needed more of if you asked him. "I can't see Thomas saying no, so I'd say go for it."

Katherine hummed with a smile, the JHP was a good program for kids. Not only would they learn how to appropriately use their quirks in public, but that they didn't _need_ to use their quirks to solve a problem. It encouraged cooperation, bonding, and responsibility among kids. It was the kind of program that she honestly wished was around when she was a kid.

Because Heavens knew there were so many adults in her generation that could have benefited from the positive lessons and messages of the program.

It'd also give Alice a place to be, a relatively safe place to be during the day in case she, Adriel or Thomas were unavailable because of hero work or school work. It wasn't going to be long until some of the academy's popular events or activities started up. She wouldn't have as much time to watch over Alice right after class anymore and neither would Adriel. She'd hate to not know if the little girl was somewhere safe.

"Oh, right, that reminds me," Katherine said, more to herself than to the others, and gestured for Alice to come over to her. "Alice, darling, I've got something for you, almost forgot all about it," would have too if she hadn't started thinking of the JHP.

The little girl pushed herself up from the floor and scampered over to where Katherine sat, "You didn't have to get me anything," she said slowly, a bit shyly as she held her hand behind her back and looking down at her feet. Her shadows were wrapped around her ankles, slithering about in what Kat could only assume was anticipation.

And the hero just smiled at the girl, reaching out to her purse and rummaging through it, "Nonsense, it's an honorary aunts job to spoiler the kid," she laughed before pulling out the gift and holding it out to the girl.

On the surface it looked like a cupcake styled keychain, something she could easily hook to her backpack, purse or anything. But there was a button on the bottom of it and little speakers, easy to miss but there all the same. Alice held it in her hand, staring in confusion and wonder as she turned it about. When she reached for the button, Kat had to stop her.

"It's a safety alarm," Katherine explained, answering Alice's unspoken question with a soft smile. "If you ever feel in danger while outside, just press the button at the bottom and it'll make a really loud noise. It'll scare the bad person and good people will come to your aid."

"A safety alarm?" Alice looked at the alarm in her hand, and even Adriel had looked up from his book to stare at the little device.

Katherine nodded towards her, "Yep. But you can't press it just for fun, only use it when you feel in danger. Like a stranger is trying to make you go with them or take something from you, or if you see some bad people doing bad things," Katherine explained, looking Alice in the eyes. "This is so you and others can stay safe, okay?"

Alice stared at the device in her hands and then looked up at Katherine with a wide smile. "Thank you! I promise I'll take care of it and only use it when I have to."

"That's my girl," Kat grinned and ruffled her hair, "Now, get out of her scamp, go play."

Alice giggled, slipping the safety alarm into her pocket and running to another room, leaving the adults to their own business as she went to find some toys to play with until Thomas came back home.

Safety alarm, huh? She'd never thought she was in that much danger before. The most danger she had been in in a long while had been the incident with Kazama when she met Thomas. Nothing bad had ever happened since then. But, maybe the town wasn't as safe as she was thinking. Bad people could be around any corner, she supposed.

She made it to her room, closing the door behind her and opening the window.

As soon as it was open, a black bird flew in and landed on the floor. A single crow this time, the others must have been busy. Oh well.

Alice smiled as she took a seat on the floor and pulled the alarm out of her pocket again to show the bird. "Look what I just got," she said smiling as the crow tilted its head poked its beak against the device. "It's a safety alarm, if I use it, its supposed to make a sound to help me out," she explained.

The crow looked at her and he looked back, "I guess I already got lots of safety with you and the others watching me," there was no way Mr. Crow… no way Chihiro would let something bad happen to her if he was watching. Between him and the heroes she was with, she couldn't imagine something happening.

The crow squawked and jumped to land on one of the shadows, she always found it adorable how the birds would use her shadows as perches.

Pushing the alarm off to the side, Alice grabbed a few of her toys and started playing. A simple adventure of a vigilante doing what was right and being bombarded by attacks by both heroes and villains. The crow and the shadows watched her as she played.

Under the eyes of the crow, it was familiar. It made her feel like she was back home with Mr. Crow, with the yakuza. They always watched over her, their master always watched over her. It made her feel safer than any safety alarm could.

It made her remember her time back with the yakuza.

* * *

It'd been a few months since she'd been taken in by the group she was with, but even though she'd been there for so long, she barely knew anyone's names. Most of them didn't bother talking to her, giving her weird looks. But there were some who she knew the names of, some who chatted with her regularly enough for her to have some idea as to who they were.

There was Kazama, he was pretty nice, and Alice thought his red hair was pretty. He sometimes used his quirk on the floor and slid around while saying silly things to get her to laugh. Hayashi wasn't as friendly, she rarely saw him smile and he always seemed to be distant. Sometimes he'd come by and say hi, but it wasn't often, the most she interacted with him was when he would watch her from across the room. It always felt like he was looking for something, she didn't like it. She didn't know what his quirk was.

There were others, but her interactions with them were small and rare and she only knew their names because they got said so often.

The one thing she didn't like about this place was that it was hard to understand what anyone was saying. Alice had a feeling that most of them didn't speak English, or at least they chose not to if they didn't have to, and while she felt like she was starting to understand some word, it was hard to know what was going on. It made her feel lonely.

Kazama would talk to her in English, but it wasn't that great, his words broken and they sounded weird. But he tried, and she was okay with that. Hayashi spoke her language as good as a native speaker, but he didn't talk much if he didn't have too.

But, she wasn't going to complain. If the language barrier was the only problem she had, then that would be okay. She could learn, the man who brought her in said that she'd adapt eventually. He even took time every day to sit down with her and teach her, not just his language, but other things too. He'd read with her, sometimes he'd help her with math, and he was always willing to answer whatever questions she had.

She owed him so much. He had taken her in when he hadn't had any obligation to, was spending his free time teaching her, as well as housing her and caring for her. He cared for her when no one else did. She had never known what it felt to be important to someone, to be wanted and cared for until he came.

Even though she was broken, even though she didn't deserve the love and attention, was useless and unwanted, he took her in without asking for anything.

She couldn't remember the details building up to her being found by him. She had blocked them out. Trauma, she had been told. She didn't like that word. But Alice could remember being found in an abandoned building, couldn't remember what she was doing there. Her arm had been hurt. Hurt really badly. Mangled and infected. It hurt so much.

Alice could remember him wrapping his coat around her and carrying her out of the building. Could remember the sharp sterile smell of a hospital, except it wasn't a hospital. She remembered she had been close to dying; cold, sick, starving, dying.

She remembered her arm was beyond saving.

But for some reason he hadn't discarded her. He could have left her in that shady clinic, but instead he had stayed in the room with her. Occasionally some other men would come in and talk to him in their own language, she learned later that they were from the yakuza he ran. He could have left her at any time. He only ever took off his mask when it was just her and him in the room or when Hayashi was in there. He said he took it off around people he trusted.

He trusted her, even though he barely knew her.

Instead he just asked her questions here and there. Where she was from, what she wanted to do, how she felt. Then, one day he had asked her the most important question. "If you have nowhere to return to, can I take you with me?"

Even seeing her quirk, something she knew people hated, even though she was useless and worthless and incomplete, he wanted her. He was the first person to want her. She couldn't say no, she was crying when she said yes.

He had taken her back with her to Japan. He had given her a name. There was a wordless, and unspoken promise that she would always be with him. Forever.

 _Heh, yeah, right. He'll throw you aside too._

 _Do you really think you're worth that much? He'll get tired and toss you out._

Alice flinched as the shadows wormed their voices into her head. Their shrill laughter echoing in her mind, and as futile as it may have been, she curled up, eyes closed, and put her hand head as though to block out their sound. It didn't work, it never worked.

It had been almost a year since she got her quirk, and she wished that she never got it. It was a terrible quirk to have. Everyone else had cool ones that helped them or helped others, all hers did was torment her, and others if it had the chance. There was nothing good about the shadows that only wanted to see people suffer.

Why did she get cursed with such a horrible quirk? Did she do something awful in her past life and this was her punishment, to be tormented and ridiculed every second of the day by her own quirk? She hated it, she hated the shadows.

It was their fault that she was alone, their fault for everything bad that had happened to her.

 _You're just as much to blame. We're a part of you, after all._

 _Oh, if only you could control your own quirk, you wouldn't be such a bother!_

The laughter continued and Alice curled up tighter on the bed she had been kneeling on, her one hand digging her fingers into her scalp. Slowly the shadows slithered along the bed, wrapping around her, trapping her in their dark webbing. She hated when they got like this, put those thoughts in her head. Deep down in her heart, she knew they were right.

If she could control her quirk, she'd be useful, but how could she control a monster like these shadows? People hated her quirk, and that meant they hated her, too. Eventually he was going to get tired of dealing with her, dealing with these shadows, too. Hoping for an eternity with him was too selfish.

Their hands were gripping at her, so tight that it hurt, she felt them wrapped around her neck and it was hard to breathe.

The shadows kept laughing, flooding her head until all she could hear was their sinister laughter. She wanted to silence them, to shut them up. She wanted the days where she didn't have her quirk, didn't have the shadows back.

"Alice."

The shadows fell silent, slithering back to the corners of her mind and the room, their touches leaving and voices gone.

She hadn't even noticed the door to the room opening or closing earlier, unable to take in anything but the shadows that had filled all her senses. But, she wasn't alone in the room anymore, she wasn't alone and her light had returned to drive off the shadows.

He was standing before the bed, looking down at her. He was still dressed up for work, and with his mask obscuring his face she couldn't get a read of his expression. He always wore that mask in front of others, save for a very few. Only around those he trusted. He didn't like people seeing his face.

Even though the mask had scared her for a while, she grew to like it. It was a part of him. There was nothing about him she could hate or fear.

Still, Alice pushed herself up to her knees when she saw who was here, "Chihiro!" she greeted, smiling wide, feeling herself at ease, feeling happiness invade her again. Chihiro was back! "Welcome home!"

The man just gave a nod, stepping away from his bed—because it was his room that she had been in, waiting for him in, his room was safe, his room was comforting—and turned his back to her for a moment. His hands messed with his head and then his mask came to rest on his desk by the wall. He was a quiet individual, sometimes a strange one. Sometimes he made strange requests (Like never using his real name outside of their group. So she took to calling him Mr. Crow when around those he didn't want knowing. She thought it was a cute nickname.), but, he was smart. He noticed things, if something was even the tiniest bit wrong with her, he noticed.

"You were writhing, looked like you were in pain. Is your quirk causing you any trouble again?" Chihiro asked as he undid his tie and draped it over the back of the chair, his black jacket followed.

She lowered her head, "I'm sorry," Alice answered, and she heard the shadows laughing at her.

Soft footsteps, a hand was placed on her head, "You're not even six yet, you've had your quirk for barely a year; it's completely normal to have problems. No one expects you to have complete control yet," Chihiro said, his voice, always calm and low, had this magical ability to sooth and relax her, to chase away her worries. She allowed herself to look up at him, meeting his blue and green eyes. They weren't warm, but they were understanding, accepting. The black wings protruding from his back twitched, a feather falling to the floor.

"I know, I just wish I could do more," Alice admitted, balling her hand into a fist on her lap, "I hate how my quirk, it—it makes everything more difficult, and I know everyone looks at it like it's evil."

Chihiro sighed and seated himself onto the bed beside her. "Alice, there's no such thing as an inherently 'evil' quirk. Quirks aren't good or bad, it's humans and their inability to accept things that confuse or frighten them that are the problems, not the quirk." He looked over to the open window, a couple of crows landed on the windowsill, watching them. There were always lots of crows around the place. Chihiro said a group of them was called a murder, he had an amused smile when he said that. Alice didn't get it.

"Your quirk may be difficult to manage, but it's not evil," Chihiro explained looking back down at her and bringing a hand to wrap around her shoulder. "In fact, I'd argue that it's difficulty is because of how powerful it is, that what you have is one of the better quirks."

From under the window, the shadow cast by the furniture bubbled, tendrils crawling up the wall. The crows cawed at it in annoyance, like there was some kind of rivalry between the two.

Alice looked up as Chihiro hummed, reaching out to smooth out one of his feathers. "If you'd excuse the very old reference, I'd say that your quirk is in the top percentage of quirks." She didn't get the reference, but that was fine. "People don't understand what your quirk is, often misunderstand it and because of that, they're scared. They're scared of what they don't know, and by not knowing, they give you more power."

"More power?" Alice asked curiously.

He nodded. "People don't immediately fear me because what they know of my quirk isn't inherently dangerous. All they see is that I have crow wings, what they know is that I can fly. So they don't fear me, what they don't know," he held his hand out to the window, one of the crows flew over and landed on his arm. "is that my quirk is more than wings, but a connection with crows. I can use them to spy, to attack, and so on." Then his arm transformed, the skin turning black and rough and overall morphing into a humanoid bird like hand complete with long black talons.

"That isn't to say I can't fight. What they do know about my quirk lets them lower their guard, what they don't know about it gets them killed," Chihiro said and a second later his hand turned back human. Then he turned his attention back to Alice. "They know absolutely nothing about your quirk. What they _think_ is that it's a type of shadow manifestation at best," he nodded to the shadows.

Alice looked down, "But it's not," she pointed out. "I mean, I don't think so."

He nodded, "Exactly." The shadows curled up from the ground as though to look at them, the crow flew from Chihiro's arm and landed on the shadowlike a perch, joined by the other crow. "What they don't know is that you're not just creating shadows, but rather, your quirk is giving the shadows around you a life of their own and amplifying their capabilities, their consciousness and soul following beside you wherever you go. If you let them continue to think your quirk is one thing, it gives you an advantage. That's how it gives you more power."

 _He's pretty smart._

 _Unlike a certain somebody._

 _Closer than most._

The shadows laughed in her head, but it didn't bother her too much this time. Instead, Alice looked at her hand, "I don't think I really get it." She didn't like the awful feeling inside of her when she thought of how Chihiro understood her quirk better than she did.

"Not surprising, you might be a bit too young to really understand this sort of stuff," Chihiro said like it wasn't a problem. He was always like that, always understanding. If Alice didn't understand what he was talking about, he treated it as though it wasn't a big deal, said it was fine that she didn't understand. She was too young, she'd get what he was saying when she was older or had more experience.

It was nice not being yelled at for not understanding _why_.

Chihiro was nice like that. It was part of the reason she liked being here with him so much. He didn't look nice, and sometimes he didn't act it, her certainly didn't have a warm personality, and his natural expression often intimidated people, but he was nice deep down. He treated her nicely, he didn't yell at her, or get mad at her, never raised his voice at her.

When it was storming really bad one night, she got really scared and accidentally ran to his room instead of her own by mistake, she was still new to his home and getting her bearings. She got lost a few times. He had looked surprised to see her barging in while he was at his desk going over papers and documents. He didn't get mad at her for coming in without permission and disturbing his work. Asked if she was scared of lightning, didn't mock her for being scared like the shadows did.

He told her she could stay in his room for the night, allowed her to sleep in the same bed as him even though she was willing to take the couch. His wings had been soft, he felt safe, and she'd been able to sleep soundly through the entire storm. Chihiro allowed her to sleep in his bed with him whenever she got scared at night, his room was a safe haven.

Even whenever they moved, and they moved from apartments and houses quite often because of his line of work, he always allowed her to come to his room when she got scared.

Whenever they went into town, he'd take her hand in his so she wouldn't get lost, knowing how scared she was of the big crowds, everything sounding foreign, looking foreign. His hands were warm. If he had the people from his work, a 'Yakuza' he called it, he'd reprimand them if they did something to scare her.

He was always calm, he never raised his voice, he never broke down. He was patient with her, he was understanding, he was… he was a parent.

With him, it was easy to forget her unhappy life before. To push those memories away to give room to this happier life she had with him.

Eventually Alice found herself on the couch in his room, sitting on Chihiro's lap. One arms was around her waist and his wings wrapped around her like a shield to protect her from the scary world outside. She liked how his feathers tickled her skin.

She was humming softly to herself as Chihiro talked on a cellphone. His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it, too. Even though she didn't know everything he was saying, it wasn't English and she was still learning Japanese, she felt like she could understand the general gist of it from the words she caught and the tone he would use. Something about him wanting the person on the other end to keep a low profile, he didn't want any heroes to get involved. She was sure she heard him say Endeavor, too. But it sounded like he really wanted whatever deal he was having his men do to go without any hitch.

What he did wasn't legal. She knew that. By all accounts he was a criminal, the bad guy. Alice didn't know the details of what sort of things he did, but he had told her straight up that it was illegal. She was okay with it, he wasn't as bad of a person as others might think. He saved her, after all.

His hand came up and started playing with her hair, as he talked, nodding and giving a few words of confirmation. Sounded like his phone call was going good, too. A few more words that she didn't understand, but she did catch him saying bye to Goro before hanging up. So he was talking to Hayashi.

She let him slip his phone back into his pocket and wrap his arm back around her, the other still running through her hair, before speaking up. He liked to cuddle her like this, Alice had a feeling it helped him relax, his work was stressful after all, and she liked the affection it provided.

"I don't think Hayashi likes me that much," Alice admitted after a few seconds of silence.

Chihiro hummed. "It's Hayashi- _san_. Remember, it's disrespectful not to use the proper suffix when addressing people. Some might not be too bothered by it, but others will, and Goro is one of them."

"You don't use any with him o _r_ me."

"Astute observation," Chihiro's wings shifted and Alice giggled as they brushed against her skin. "Though you failed to notice that I do refer to him as 'Hayashi-san' when there are others besides you present, and he always refers to me with respect. I don't use any with you simply because I don't want to and you wouldn't care."

He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling before adding, "But if I were to use one with you, I suppose I'd call you Alice-chan."

Alice-chan… she made a face at that. It sounded weird.

"Still, Hayashi-san," she put emphasis on the suffix, "did I do something wrong? If I did something to upset him and that's why he doesn't like me, I'd like to know so I can apologize."

But the man shook his head, "It's not that Goro doesn't like you, he certainly doesn't _dislike_ you. It's rather, he doesn't open up often. At the moment, he sees no reason why he needs to get close to you or be your friend. It's his personality, so don't take offense at it. He doesn't mean to scare you or upset you."

"Is there anything I can do to make him warm up to me?" Alice asked.

"Give him time."

Alice hummed in response and then Chihiro was resting his chin on the top of her head. "He'll warm up to you eventually, Alice. You're a part of this family, after all, same as him. Once your older and have been a part of us for longer, the others will be more friendly to you." His voice was warm as he spoke, "Remember, you're still fresh blood, not only are you a child, but you're an outsider, there's a cultural and language barrier between you and the rest of the family. Most of the men here don't know more than a few phrases at best of English, and you only know enough Japanese to order food and ask for help. But once we overcome that, there's nothing stopping you and the others from being friends like you want."

Family.

That's right, she was a part of this family that Chihiro had made. Sure, it wasn't the kind of family made by blood ties and marriages, but it was a family. One Chihiro had adopted her into. Family had never felt so warm before him.

Almost as if reading her mind, "Yes, we're a family," Chihiro repeated. "This is _your_ family, where you belong. Never forget that."

And as Alice sat on the stairs, two years later, staring at the gift Katherine had given her, she realized that she had almost forgotten that memory. The warmth. The family that Chihiro had given to her. Of course she would never forget the Yamazaki family. But she had almost forgotten that they were a _family_. Hers.

She closed her eyes, listening to Adriel and Kat talk in the living room below. Chihiro was her family. But, so was Hercules, Adriel and Katherines. Was it normal to have two families?

Did it even matter?

Yeah, it did. There was a day when she was going to have to choose which family to stay with, and there was no doubt she was going to hurt one side or the other. But… she already knew that if and when that time comes, which one she wanted to choose.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

Well here's chapter seven. Was really looking forward to writing that flashback scene. Anyways, as always, feedback is appreciated, so lemme know what you think of this mess.


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